Elders

Our kids take a weekly music class for most of the year and have since Mateo was about 10 months old.  Just about every Portland family we know has tried it at some point and the majority of them are still taking classes.  It's not very complicated - just lots of singing and dancing and having fun with your kid.  Or kids.  Due to the expense, there are vastly more parents with one kid at the classes than with two kids.  However, both of ours love it so much that we just keep signing up. 

Well, at least Mateo loves it.  Natalia loves it after the fact, or possibly she just loves to listen to the cd we get every semester.  During the class itself, she clings to me like a little koala bear and refuses to get down.  I was getting frustrated with this recently and then I realized that I hadn't given her any credit for the baby steps she is making.  She now wants to walk to get her own instrument during the play-along time, albeit holding my hand, and she also helps put things away now, still holding my hand.  So, I guess we're making progress.

I digress.  The music program is starting an intergenerational pilot project.  It's going to be a class held at a local low-income senior living facility that just happens to be within walking distance of our house.  They offered current students the chance to try out a demonstration class, so I took Talia to one today while Te Te was at preschool.  It was awesome.  The room was filled with elders, moms and dads, and babies and toddlers.  The older people sat in a big circle in chairs or wheelchairs and the parents and kids sat on the floor in a circle like usual. 

The class was mostly the same as normal, but everyone was encouraged to interact, and the joy on the faces of the seniors was just about enough to make me burst into tears.  They were SO happy to see all these babies, and the babies were generally thrilled to see them!  Talia did her part to encourage intergenerational communication, helping bring instruments to the seniors and waving to them and smiling and such (while being carried by me or holding my hand, of course).   There was so much joy there that it was contagious. 

I wish we could take the actual class when it starts, but we normally have stuff going on on Tuesday mornings and plus, the kids are really happy in their Monday morning class that they take together.  It might be something to consider for the future, though.  The oldest person there was nearly 105 and she was grinning and participating with all her might.  She and Talia had a couple of really sweet interactions. 

It really made me think about how fast everything goes - how the seniors there had once been babies and then young adults and then new parents themselves, and then had eventually ended up needing care toward the end of their lives.  People aren't kidding when they say to "enjoy this time," as cliched as it may sound.  I'm sure it will go by in the blink of an eye.  In any case, I felt honored to participate in the class today and I think everyone there felt the same.  It was awesome.