This is a post by Sarabella!
Dear Sarabella,
I am VERY SORRY, I double posted my reply and wanted to delete my own post but pushed by mistake the button on your post rather than on mine!
Maggie


Post Toddler who hates when Mommy sings
I'm wondering if anyone here has heard of this quirk in a toddler. I have a two-year-old son who objects strenuously every time I sing to him. I am not tone-deaf, have sung in several choirs when I was a teenager, and can sing a pretty lovely melody. My voice is in a typical range: mezzo soprano. Every time I sing to him, he puts a finger to his lips and demands, "Shhh Mama! No!" His objection is unmistakable. I've tried soft lullabies, classic silly upbeat songs ("Wheels On the Bus," "If You're Happy and You Know It"), my own compositions, wordless songs, humming—you name it. It doesn't matter what I try, he doesn't like it and if I persist in singing, he screams "STOP, Mama!" I've never seen this behavior in any other baby and I have to admit, it hurts my feelings a little. My older son (6.75 years) always loved me to sing to him, and our nighttime ritual still included my singing his favorites.

I should say that two-year-old Asher is typical in every other way. Typical language development, social functioning, etc. He is happy most of the time and enjoys playing with people. He loves recorded music and will boogie along with the rest of us during our "after-dinner discos"—we put on music and dance together while my husband and I clean the table and do the dishes.

I am told that he does not do this in circle time at his Waldorf preschool/day care with the two other two-year-olds. His teacher is allowed to sing without him objecting.

Any suggestions? Anybody heard of this before? Will he grow out of it? If he doesn't come to enjoy vocal music, he might not much like Waldorf school.

_________________
Sarabella
mother of Lucas, 6.75, and Asher, 2
Sarabella@comcast.net
http://sarabellae.livejournal.com/ and
http://www.loveinthesuburbs.com <--coming soon!

This is too funny,...I had a similar problem with our DS when he was two/ two and half, and sometimes he still does not approve of my singing. I think it is a phase that they go through, especially at age two. I personally would not worry too much about it and just be persistent and let him know that you enjoy singing and if he would not like to join you, after a while I think he might just give in and join you.

I am not so sure if this reaction of our little ones is really about the singing part or music itself, rather about the discovery of their inner voice so to speak, our DS is quite headstrong and discovered at two that he can tell us adults what he wanted/liked and what he did not want/like. I think it might have something more to do with the discovery of their personality, ...but I could be wrong.