In the last year I've found that organized 'mother & child' activities are really hard to come by in this town, and believe me, it's not for lack of trying.

Playgroups, anyone? Hmmm... not so common in this city of many nannies, but finally, I heard of one morning group at a nursery school when my SO* was about a year old – hooray!

Off we went one morning, all excited, (well, I was excited), to see what it was all about. For nearly an hour, we endured several teachers dancing around and shouting "tapes les mains!" at a bunch of totally bewildered babies, which was barely audible over the blaring speakers.

We never went back. Thankfully, I then discovered the music class at Learn & Play School in Beirut. Based on the American 'Music Together' program, this class is a thoughtful, fun way to introduce your little ones to music.

The children are exposed to different instruments and rhythms through a series of especially composed songs and are left to experiment with musical instruments through play. The basic philosophy is that all children are musical and that all can "achieve basic musical competence".

Yes, we have all seen dance floor performances that are pitifully incompetent, but maybe it's just because they didn't get the chance to develop those ears early enough? In any case, it's lovely bonding time with your child, and your participation is apparently essential to their musical growth. (Hear that? Blame your parents!)

In any case, even if your child is not destined to become the next Mozart, it's really fun dancing around, singing along, clanging cymbals and shaking those maracas. And I think my daughter likes it too.

 
* SO is not my Significant Other, but rather, my Scrumptious One.