Home Time Music

Back before Christmas I read to my daughter The Little House in the Big Woods (by Laura Ingles Wilder ) and there was a story about her Pa playing the fiddle for them and them dancing. We use to do that when my Grandma T would come to visit our house when I was a teenager! She taught me basic fiddle and my dad had a harmonica. My mom can actually play guitar but always preferred to listen. But tonight we passed this tradition on to our own 3 children. Husband is a guitar player (as well as a pianist like myself) who has learned the values of traditional music from living with me for the last 8 1/2 years! I even catch him tapping his toe to real western country music (not so much modern country) that the children step dance too. They take Canadian Step Dance lessons every Wednesday with Kelly Maw. The oldest two wanted to show their dad what they are learning, as he works from 6am-9:30pm most days, this was his night home with the family. we started out with Cd's and then I recognized one of the step dance routines was actually to a song I use to play on the fiddle with my grandma! Now I have to say, it's probably been 2 years since I've touched my violin, and quite a few months since I've had out my mandolin. But I dusted off the violin and rosined up my bow really well and my husband pulled out his guitar and we all had a jig of a night! The children even taught me one of their step dances. I really want to take lessons, I even have the shoes. But you know how mothers tend to sacrifice too often.....:) We also did a bit of swing, as the children have to come up with their own routine for a free dance section in Rock'n Robin, a modern song with a step dance beat. My husband can't dance, won't even try. It's about the only thing he's self conscious about. But we made him anyways, after closing the blinds to the front window! We ended the evening with the lights out and the Cd player off, playing our worn out sleepy heads almost to sleep with their favorite lullabies, like Hush-a-bye Don't You Cry, and our version of Rock a bye Baby where no baby falls....we sing:

Rock A Bye Baby
On the tree top
When the wind blows
The cradle will rock
We'll pray to Jesus
To hold you tight
And stay by your bedside
All through the night

That was my daughters song, she hasn't wanted me to sing it at bed time for a year or two now, sadly. But that was her special request tonight! And with a Twinkle Twinkle Little Star we packed them off to bed.
Goodnight!