We were honored on Sunday, Oct. 7 to perform with NY Times Bestselling Author and Georgetown University professor, Deborah Tannen. Her most recent book, “You’re Wearing THAT? Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation” inspired us to consider a show together. Deborah’s true stories about her life and the many women she interviewed are eye opening (and heart opening). Her books on communication are highly recommended. The show was special as we alternated between her stories and pearls of wisdom and us singing songs from the “PARENTS’ HOME COMPANION” CD, as well as our own personal stories. We created that CD long ago to enjoy the humor, trials and tribulations of parenting through songs. It was very special to have Marcy’s mother sitting in the front row. We hope to get another opportunity to repeat the show. It was a first time joint performance at the DCJCC’s Literary Festival.

Two quick photos from the annual conference of the NAEYC where we gathered with 20,000 early childhood educators. We had the honor of sharing the Opening Plenary, “A Celebration of Literacy”, with award winning children’s book author, Vera B. Wells (”A Chair for My Mother”, “More, More, More” & many others), and with Dorothy Strickland, researcher and literacy expert. There were 9,000 people in the room for the session REALLY. That’s 9,000 people scat singing with us, doing the motions to the Ballet Dancing Truck Driver, yodeling and singing together in American Sign Language. We followed that with a workshop on the music & literacy connection. The screens were big enough for an outdoor rock concert. We’re the little dots under the screen and the NAEYC sign. WOW!

It was a huge thrill to sing with young performers from Hawaii, South Korea, Turkey, and Qatar at the Wolf Trap International Children’s Festival. The photo is small, but you get the vibe with the colorful costumes and international flags overhead. We all sang Ella Jenkins’ song, “You’ll Sing A Song And I’ll Sing A Song.” We’re in the middle, with band, leading audience and cast.