ine years ago my son and I were on the verge of living in our car. Poverty, stress, and insecurity take a huge toll on people’s ability to think, function, and to thrive. My health was spiraling downhill. I later learned that my body was shutting down from the stress I was under. I couldn’t have pulled myself out of this situation on my own, I needed help.
If it weren’t for a friend of a friend who needed a house sitter, I don’t know what I would’ve done. And if it weren’t for family members who came to my rescue for the long haul while I’ve healed, I certainly wouldn’t be teaching moms and dads how to connect with their babies, or writing music, or getting to visit my own grandbabies.
That’s why it’s so important to me that our lessons are not just about teaching music, but fostering self-confidence in our kids and raising them to be kind, empathetic people.
I remember my son, who was an emerging dancer, begging me to dance with him and I could barely muster up the strength. He was kind and understanding, but I wished he hadn’t had to worry about me and that he could just be a kid.
Through the loving help of my family members I was able to heal, and I was able to get back to teaching piano to little kids with enough energy to teach many classes every day! During this time of healing, I’ve put the most into developing Little Bird Piano Academy™ and Baby-Led Piano™.
People like to say, “If it doesn’t kill you it’ll make you stronger.” I think that’s something we say to let ourselves off the hook from helping someone. The truth is, things that don’t kill you still hurt you. But that experience did teach me some stuff:
- We All Need Help Sometimes.
- Singing, playing, and dancing with your kids, no matter how much you love them, takes resources.
- When you’re working three jobs to pay your rent late and to barely get by, you don’t have time, brain space, or energy to sing songs and to play with your kids.
- There are people who will judge you when you need help, and there are people who will honestly help you.
As much as I believe in building a better future, I know that’s dependent on creating a better situation for lots of people now.
I’ve thought about gifting access to the upcoming Baby-Led Piano™ series to parents in need, and I’m sure that will happen. But what I believe these parents need even more than a course on teaching their kids music, is a safe place to live, food to eat, and proper healthcare. Until those basic needs are met, there won’t be time, energy, or mental/emotional bandwidth to give those babies the fun, carefree lives they deserve.
Everyone deserves to be safe and to have care. But I can’t do it alone. None of us can really do anything alone. We need to team up. That’s why Little Bird Piano Academy™ is teaming up with Real Change, and inviting each of you to join.
Real Change exists to provide opportunity and a voice to low-income and homeless people while taking action for economic, social and racial justice. I’ve seen people get on their feet with this organization’s help, rallying the help of their community.
When you join the Baby-Led Piano™ online family, you’ll have the option to add a subscription to contribute to Real Change every month. As a community, we can each do a little, a little at a time, and it will add up to a lot.
If subscribing to Baby-Led Piano™ isn’t your thing right now – maybe you don’t have any littles to sing with, or maybe you’re a little overwhelmed at the moment. You can still contribute to Real Change.
You can get more information on this incredible organization here. https://www.realchangenews.org/
