The rest of this week, I’ll focus on Thanksgiving and the blessings I’m grateful for. But for today, let me follow retailers’ lead and focus on Christmas.

HEY. At least I’m doing this in November, not September. Be grateful for small favors.

***

As I was saying….

Yesterday I found the “All Christmas All the Time” station on my satellite radio. And so I’ve officially skipped over Thanksgiving, music-wise. Hello, Mannheim Steamroller. How are you, Nat King Cole? Are you still singing, Kenny Rogers? (And what did you do to your face?)

Music is one reason why I LOVE this time of year. All day I can tend a fire in the fireplace, drink pumpkin spice coffee, pump up the volume on my carols, and sing along at the top of my voice. And Dude, I know a LOT of Christmas carols.

(Charlie does a lot of sighing. And escaping to his office for some Led Zeppelin.)

But you know what? I’m making up for when I was younger, when I didn’t sing enough in front of others.

Now I SANG, but only in groups. In fact I was in some kind of choir from age 9 to 21. I got accepted into – and didn’t get kicked out of – a travel choir in college. I know the alto part to hundreds of songs. But for 30+ years, I just didn’t want anyone to hear me sing it.

Why would a person who loves to sing hide the sound of her voice from everyone?

I think it’s because I was never told I could sing.

(That’s why it’s taken me years and lots of lullabyes to realize my voice is not horrible. I’m not Whitney Houston, but I think I can carry a tune.)

Now, I don’t blame anyone for this; my family is not one of singers. In fact, now that I think of it, my mom and sister never sing loud enough to be heard either. Even though I think they both carry a tune just fine. In or out of a bucket.

Mom totally encouraged my love for singing, taking me to church choir all those years when I begged for it. But I’m sure she didn’t feel qualified to judge my singing, so she didn’t. I do the same thing.

I think we all do; we encourage what we know.

If my kids want to be musicians, football players, chefs, writers, linguists, equestrians, editors, gymnasts, visual artists, or black belts, either Charlie or I can easily encourage them. We’re not experts in all of those areas, but we do know from experience what level of performance constitutes “good.”

(Extra credit if you can guess which skill is possessed by which parent!)

In what areas will we have to work to encourage them? Physics. Higher math. Economics. Engineering. Hockey. Statistics. Chemistry. Basically anything with numbers and/or science.

(Okay, Charlie my Renaissance Man, I’m sure I listed a skill above that you DO possess and I didn’t know about. Feel free to correct me.)

So now I have a question for you:

I want to encourage my kids’ musical abilities. They play piano and know they’re good at it. But they also have wonderful, on-pitch voices. LC won’t admit it, and he wants nothing to do with performing. But the girls sound so pretty when they sing. And I can tell that they love doing it for others.

They need ways to practice and test their ability. So can you help me?

What non-pageant singing opportunities are out there for young elementary kids?

Our church does have a kids’ worship team that I’ll encourage them to join when they’re older. And I could sign them up for singing lessons. But I’d prefer less expensive ways to help them grow right now.

Do you have any suggestions? If so, please share them in the comments.

And to get you in the mood for the upcoming season, here’s my Favorite. Christmas. Carol. Evah.