Saturday, September 22, 2012

Morning Routine Playlist

I found a great idea in ADDitude Magazine for inspiring my household to get up and get going in the morning.  I cannot find the actual article.  The link above is to the main website.  The idea is to make an hour-long playlist of music and then start the music an hour before you need to leave the house or get started with school in the morning.  The kids thought this was great.  Our whole family collaborated on the playlist.  Here it is:

When Will My Life Begin, from the movie, "Tangled"
Every Knee Shall Bow by Twila Paris
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers
The Morning Report from the movie, "The Lion King"
The Joy of the Lord by Twila Paris
Good Morning, Baltimore from the musical, "Hairspray"
Beautiful Day by U2
Hakuna Matata from the movie, "The Lion King"
Climb Every Mountain from the musical, "The Sound of Music"
Little Wonders from the movie, "Meet the Robinsons"
Good Morning, Good Morning by the Beatles (covered by The Coverbeats)
I Will Lift My Eyes by Bebo Norman
Chorus Finale on Schiller's Ode to Joy from Beethovens 9th Symphony
The Russian Dance from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Ballet
Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves
They have ordered their morning routines to correspond to different songs in the list.  A few days after we started this, I reordered the playlist a bit and set off a panic when the girls heard Good Morning Baltimore earlier than they were expecting, lol.

The Ode to Joy finale is our signal that we have fifteen minutes before showtime.  ;)  During the day when we need to go somewhere in fifteen minutes, I start the playlist at Ode to Joy.

Funny how music motivates us.  It's much more pleasant than an alarm going off or a person saying "Get going!"  The other day one of the girls did not get up and did not get up.  I finally went into her room fifteen minutes before time and simply said, "Ode to Joy, babe."  She was out of bed like a shot.

I have been one of the worst offenders as far as lollygagging in the morning.  The music works for me too.  The girls say even if the music didn't help that much, they would still like it because they like hearing me sing in the morning.  I am happy we chose music with words.

We have been using this tool for three weeks and no one is tired of the songs yet.  I wonder when we will decide we need new ones?

Updated to add:  Have you watched the movie, "Inception"?  In that movie, a certain song plays to signal the dreamers that it is time to wake up.  They call it "the kick".  This week, we realized Ode to Joy is the kick that alerts us to do our last things and get ready to go, leaving the kairos atmosphere of home and entering the chronos atmosphere of appointments and activities.

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