Mr. Mike's Family Notes: Meet The Ross-Schwartzwald Family
"Making DC Our Playground"
Meet Madelyn, her husband Jake, and their son Avi. The family moved to Capitol Hill from Brooklyn when Jake started law school in DC. Law School would ask a lot of both of them. Jake would miss many weekends with Avi, and Madelyn would take on more of them herself. She wanted something that would give Avi a place to make music and give both of them a community. Avi was 19 months old when they joined Deborah's class at the Hill Center.
Madelyn will tell you she mourned Brooklyn at first. She thought she had left real city living behind. It didn't take long for the Hill to change her mind. Now every Sunday is three hours of what she calls making DC their playground. They start at Miss Deb's 10:00 class, walk to the playground with friends from class, and then head to the farmers market at Eastern Market for loaves of bread and some of the best pears she has ever tasted. When it rains, they trade the playground for East City bookstore or Labyrinth, the game store. All of it is within walking distance.
Friends come along too. Madelyn says that whether they're at gymnastics, swimming, the playground, or the market, they always run into someone from music class to wave to or stop and chat with. That's the best part of our musical community. The families you sing with on Sunday morning become the families you see all week.
A Year of Growing Up
When Avi started with us, he had just learned to walk and wasn't talking yet. He was working with a speech therapist once a week on language and imitation. In class he did a lot of listening, along with plenty of happy toddler bopping during his favorite songs.
A year later, in Madelyn's words, you cannot get this kid to stop singing. In a recent class she watched him echo Miss Deb as she sang the short tonal patterns we include at the end of songs to demonstrate tonality. It's a very adult part of our class. He knows his morning routine now. He knows a lot of other routines too. After free dance he announces, "Time for instruments!" When the instruments go away, he climbs into his mom's lap and says, "Time for resting!" He knows lullaby time is coming. As Madelyn puts it, "This two-and-a-half-year-old loves a routine, and music class knows how to give it to him so he can feel safe to explore."
Madelyn teaches elementary music herself, pre-K through fifth grade, in Arlington Public Schools. Participating in Deborah's class came easily for her. What she loved was not being the one in charge. She got to sing, move, and simply watch her child learn. She also pointed out that she sings constantly at home, so Avi would be confused if she weren't singing along in class. Children watch the grownups they love to decide what music is for. Avi has learned that it's something his family does.
Songs in Their Own Words
Is there a song from Bongos, or any earlier collection, that Avi sings, asks for, or responds to at home or on the road?
"Currently Avi is obsessed with 'She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain.' When we first started listening to the Bongos CD in the car, he was quiet, but when the song finished he would yell 'Again!' Now I'll hear little 'yee-haws' and 'whoa, backs!' coming from the backseat, and it makes me so happy. It makes the ninth listen of 'She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain' in a single car ride worth it."
Do you remember a song your parents, grandparents, or caregivers sang to you when you were small?
"My parents had a menu of three songs each that I could choose from at bedtime. My mom's songs were 'My Favorite Things,' 'Wouldn't It Be Loverly,' and 'You've Got a Friend.' My dad's songs were 'Catch a Falling Star,' 'My Girl,' and 'Sweet Baby James.' Jake and I have modeled this same structure with Avi. My two songs are 'What a Wonderful World' and 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow.' Jake's are 'Slip Slidin' Away' and 'Hallelujah.'"
Bedtime is one of the most tender moments between a parent and child. The lights are out. Senses are heightened. A child feels the arms of a loving parent holding them. Your child doesn't just hear your voice; they can feel it as you hold them. Words fall short. A song makes the moment.
Madelyn felt that from her parents, and now Avi feels it from her and Jake. Every family can be a musical family. Your child won't remember whether you hit the notes. They'll remember that you sang.
Bringing It Home
What strikes me about this family is how much of Avi's music happens outside our room. Class is only one part of his week. The singing is everywhere. That's what happens when a family decides music belongs to them.
There's room for your family. Come see what it sounds like at mistermikesmusic.com.
