Happy Musical Moms Day!
Singer-songwriter/ Teacher/ Author/ Speaker- MOM
Happy Mother’s Day to the Mom’s among you! and a special shout out to the Moms who also do music!
Being a Mom and a musician! I had never really thought about it until one of my mentors, Bree Noble from Profitable Musician blogged about it!
Some musician moms might feel guilty about spending time away from their kids- or that their passion for music would somehow compete with their ability to be the best mother possible… it certainly doesn’t have to! In fact, it can be an incredible gift to you and your children! And heaven forbid your kid’s grow up thinking they are the only thing ini the universe! It’s so good for kids to see Mom pursuing her dreams… it will give them permission to do so as well!
For me, I was always a musician so adding children was pretty natural. It never occurred to me to quit music to be a mother- I just took them along. (I did drop off the gigging stage for 6 months when they were infants… ) Though at times it was crazy!
I remember hiring babysitters when I had gigs- (Ralph often worked nights at Berklee then) those relationships with teens from church were fantastic anchors as they grew up. I also remember pumping my breasts in the bathroom at some wedding gigs! I was determined the twins would have breast milk!
When Hannah and Caleb were 2 years old when they debuted in their first student recital… the first of about 25 in their childhoods! (picture at the top)
 
Congregational church, Billerica, studio Recital
About student recitals, I used to hire some teens to come with me to the shows… among them Brittany Roscoe and Nicole Roscoe, though they were adorable and talented, they were not good at sitting still in the audience – and I was not there sitting beside them to train them!
I remember taking them to a coffeehouse gig once and one of them decided to storm the stage age cling to my leg under my skirt while I was singing while the other attempted to reek havoc with the sound system! Not my finest hour!
But they learned to nap with electric guitars blaring in the next room and eventually joined me on stage in all kinds of circumstances as featured soloists or back up singers.
For several years, they helped me lead the Vacation Bible School music in the summer!
They sang on Ralph and my song “Hope, Faith, Love” on the album and cd release concert! And they joined me in the “All About Jesus” TV program with Sheila Profenna , too!
Music is also a wonderful way to bring your children into your faith and learn to use their gift for good causes.
Hannah singing Hope Faith Love with Mama at a charity benefit
We did toy with the idea of renting out the house and buying an RV, grabbing a tutor and hitting the road to tour as a family, but we never made it happen… and frankly, despite my kids’ evident talent, neither was passionate about practicing and really pursuing a musical career… and I was never good at forcing them.
Though we did enjoy some family band times especially on stage at church and over the COVID lockdown!
Open the eyes of my Heart 2020
Virtual Happy Julie video during COVID with Hannah:
Happy Julie video with Hannah
And even this Easter, Caleb, Ralph and I enjoyed all leading in the worship team together! (Hannah was at college) i LOVE singing in the worship team with Caleb!
Worship with Caleb!
I have so many fond memories of spontaneous harmonies while hiking or at the dinner table!
And what an incredible joy to share my love of music with my children! And watch them enjoy it on their own along the way. Mom’s- you are giving a gift to your children! One that bounces back to reward you! The pride of watching my kids on stage is very close to the joy I feel when a perform myself!
After Lion King show at Marshall Middle School
Caleb in Footloose in Billerica Memorial High School
Additionally, music is great for brain development, confidence, connection and so much more- and they certainly used what they learned from Ralph and I as evidenced in many of these pictures!
And now my daughter plays piano (like Daddy) and writes songs (like Mama) and was emboldened to chase her dreams as a visual artist and my son sings on the worship team (Like Mama) and has a second job doing A/V (From experience with audio engineer Daddy) though he is studying to be a bio-medical engineer! They have maybe only suffered a bit financially from our choices of career!
Being a musician and a mother allowed me to be flexible and available to be very present in their childhoods, for which I am forever grateful!
There is so much more I could share! And so many more pictures- but not to bore you- let me simply encourage you!
Happy Mother’s Day all you musical Moms!