I don’t know what was in our water today... or maybe it was the music?
(I have to preface this story by saying that on any given day, screams—of joy? Rage? Who can tell anymore??—can be heard from within our walls. “Quiet” is a state that I long for, ACHE for, and must withstand receiving in small doses. Also: it should be noted that yesterday there was a dance enacted with various forms of scatological humor).
But tonight we listened to Bach Brandenburg Concertos as I was cooking dinner, my daughter (10) was cooking and baking for some neighbors, and my son (4) was quietly drawing. At dinner my boy looked up from the table and said calmly, “this dinner is actually really good”. Then my girl said, “it is. We’re so lucky—we have this good dinner, good music, and we have each other”.
I was like 👀 ...
After dinner we dropped off the soup and cookies to the neighbors, and on the way my daughter recalled the famous Queen of the Night aria, from the opera Magic Flute. So we started singing it, which led to watching a few interpretations of it online.
My son—who you’ll know by now is highly sensitive and sometimes can’t tolerate sound—was RIVETED. He listened attentively to the aria, and when it ended he said (again, with complete calm), “that was really, really fun.”
Um. Okay, unexpected win—I’ll take it! . We get home and they race to the sofa together to listen to the aria over and over. My daughter goes on about how amazing the soprano is... and my son first comments on one of the costumes (“she looks like a zombie monster” - which was true...) then he listens again and says, “she is a genius”.
So, I’m just kvelling... and also want to know who drugged my children today, and WHERE do I get more??
#whosekidsarethese #operakids #magicflute #queenofthenight #musicforgrowingbrains #optimalbraingrowth #growingbrains #musicforbraindevelopment