Halloween - Not My Favorite, But It Happens

I'm not a big fan of Halloween - the hype just gets to me after a while - but I am going to wear a costume and go to Trunk or Treat this evening. I will arrange a small ball game for kids to play in order to get their candy - I believe in earning things rather than just getting things. I have purchased my candy (all 798 pieces of it - I ate two pieces), and my costume is coming together. I've decided to be "The Napper." I can wear my big, comfy robe, my slippers, and some shorts underneath while also wearing my superhero cape. I'm not very good at making up costumes - I don't ever want to spend money, so I'm stuck with things around the house. I went trick or treating as a child dressed as an adult for SEVERAL years in a row - see what I mean? Last year, I went as Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock. It was a great mediocrity.

So, I am going out into the world, wearing my costume and getting ready for the post-Halloween crash.

Just in case you were wondering, I am not doing any therapy interactions today, so I'm not running any type of Halloween TMEs with my students. Even when I am the only music therapist at the facility, I don't really do many Halloween-themed TMEs. The most effort I put in is to change all of my major keys to minor keys for our familiar songs.

Ironically, I have TONS of Halloween-themed TMEs. My interns have provided me with many different ideas over the years, and I've come up with my own ideas as well. There are lots of Halloween children's books that lend themselves well to songs and TMEs, and everyone seems to have a pumpkin song or two in their music libraries. I'm actually finishing up a couple of songs for next year's Teachers Pay Teachers October release that incorporate songs that outline the process of trick or treating for those of us who do not know what is happening and some songs about costumes. They were almost ready this morning, but I'll keep working on them and get them ready for release next August (it makes sense in my brain, I promise!) for the next Halloween season.

For today though, I am going to gather my robe, my slippers, my pillow, my superhero robe, and a mask to hide my true identity before I head out for a VERY long day of entertaining children and giving them candy. If my bosses were wise, they would arrange our Fall Break to happen the days after Halloween so we teachers/therapists wouldn't have to deal with the candy crashes, but the Board of Regents don't think like that, so my bosses don't think like that. Anyway, here we go!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear AMTA

Dear American Music Therapy Association: I am debating long and hard about remaining in this relationship. I have been in this relationship since college, and this is not a decision that I am taking lightly or without great cost.  I am not happy with what you are bringing to this relationship. Now, I have been a selfish partner over the past several years - mainly because I am not feeling like we share a common mission anymore. It is easy for me to place the blame on you, but I know that this is not all on me. I have tried to be invested in communication and support and understanding, but everyone comes to a time where enough is enough. I am trying very hard to decide if the benefits that you provide to me are worth the feelings that I have about where I think you and I are going. I am not sure that our destination is the same anymore, and this makes me sad. To be completely honest, I am only in this relationship these days for the music therapy interns. I don't think that is a hea...
Read more

Songwriting Sunday: Repetition

Image
One of the things that I find to be helpful with my client population (children, adolescents, and young adults with dual diagnoses) is repetition of phrases, lyrics, and music. As a result of 30+ years of working with this population in various iterations, I have found that my clients respond the most to songs with three repeated phrases to prime their responses with a different phrase to communicate the important part of the experience. DISCLAIMER: This is not a definite way to write music for clinical interactions. This is what seems to work well with my particular group of human beings. Don't go to your supervisors and tell them that I told you that this is the ONLY way to write music - It is NOT! You have to find what works for your clients and for their clinical goals. Since my clients respond well to this type of song, I tend to write songs in this format more than any other. What I have found is that my clients remember these songs more than the ones that I do in different f...
Read more

Being An Internship Director: On Hiatus

Image
It has been long enough since I have had an intern that I am seriously feeling like I have little to say on the subject. At the same time, I am currently writing Chapter 5 of my general internship handbook, so I am able to write about being an intern and what types of things to think about during this important time in our professional development. It is a strange place to be in, and it is one that is a bit challenging for me. Right now, I have had three vacant internship positions since the beginning of the calendar year. I will have a vacant position next month and that will be an entire year of rejected offers. In the past nine months, I have offered positions to three applicants who have declined. It is interesting how people complain that there aren't enough internship programs, but programs like mine are empty. I guess there aren't enough internship programs that pay large stipends (which mine cannot) out there. I get it. It is interesting to me how we have moved from an ...
Read more