Wow – lots of things to get to this week in the world of mental health. For today, I want to react to an upcoming episode of iCarly that I saw advertised.

Life isn’t fair, and neither is Christmas. Some people get big boxes and others get small ones. As we know, good things can come in small packages. Or three packages, or five, or ten,

The fall is my favorite time of the year. It’s not just the beautiful colors or the change of weather – it’s the family traditions that get me charged up.

I was in several music classes when I was in school.  One of the most frustrating things for the teacher had to be chatty students in class.  If the whole point of your activity is to work with sound, distracting and noisy conversation is about the last thing you want.  Music educators, I’m sorry.  It looks like your profession actually helps kids communicate even better.

Want to leave a legacy to your children?  Teach them to appreciate and love music  — your music.  Yep, you may need to shell out a little dough for an mp3 player or some music lessons.  But you will undoubtedly be passing on something very personal to you.  Even better, your kids will have their own perspective and appreciation for music as the years pass.

Since I’ve roamed the planet a few years, I’ve stored up memories of a whole lot of different kinds of music in my life.  I remember “current” music from when I was a kid, a teen, in college, as a young adult, and now.  I’ve also come across many pieces from decades or even centuries ago.  If you saw my iTunes playlists, you’d see this variety plain and clear.  I attribute that open-eared approach to my family when I was growing up.