Let me start by saying this: my family is not perfect. Precisely because our lives are not perfect this daily habit is so important to us and has made us a happier family.

It all started with the birth of my son. I want to give him a strong sense of belonging. It is my belief that children who feel like they belong are not only happier but tend to not get in trouble. I want him to have that one place where he is not judged and he is always loved, even after maybe making some mistakes (hey, I don’t expect him to be perfect!).

A way of giving kids a sense of belonging is, in my opinion, having family traditions. This habit was born out of my desire to create a family tradition that used the end of the day as an opportunity to let all the stressors, bad experiences and disappointments that the day may have brought behind. I basically wanted to reset our days at the end of the day, and I wanted to do it as a family.

Here came the need for music. Since this tradition was created after Lennox’s birth, music had to be part of it because he is an absolute music lover. My husband jokes that he lives in a musical because I sing to him non-stop.

How could we use music to create a family tradition that helped us all end every day on a high note? Introducing: SONG TIME! Every single night at 7 pm, we grab our instruments (shakes, bells, we go all out!!) and play one of Lennox’s favorite songs LOUD! We dance, we sing, we act completely silly and, basically, use that time to forget about our day and simply connect with each other in a very fun way. This is one of Lennox’s favorite part of the day and, get this, if you are in our house at the time, you have to do it with us! Our friends and family are initially hesitant and then they all fall in love with the idea by the end of the song!

As many of you know, I have had 4 miscarriages. My last one ended up with me having to have a D&C, which was tremendously traumatic. The day of my D&C, I joined my family for song time. None of us misses a day. No mater what.

I encourage you all to use this as a way to end your day. I want to close with my husband’s view on SONG TIME, because I think that I made a believer out of him and this tradition is now our family’s favorite time of the day: “ No matter how the day started or the obstacles faced that day, each night we end it with an upbeat (adult) song and a lot of fanfare. We sing, dance, march, clap, jump, and shake maracas and bells with great enthusiasm every evening before bath and bedtime. If you are visiting us that evening, you are welcomed to take part. We often say that life is better appreciated looking through the eyes of a child. Is is all the more true when you are dancing like one.”