The Duggars’ Instant Stress Buster: Music
Music is one of those things in life that lifts you up
. Our family listens to it all the time -- we usually have a CD playing or music playing over the intercom system in the house. We love hymns. We love classical music, and some of the kids listen to Christian bluegrass music, so there's always something playing in the house.
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I love harp music, and I have a favorite CD called Peace Be Still that I always play every chance I get. It's great to help calm the little ones down. If they're being rowdy or energetic I can put that on and have them all sit down and be still for a little bit.
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The kitchen counter is full of CDs, particularly instrumental Christian gospel music. We sit at the table during memory lane each weekday and we work through through memorizing a lot of hymns together as a family. It's just very melodious music, and sometimes it's and cheerful, and other times it's more peaceful, go-to-sleep kind of music (depending on if it's close to naptime).
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When my daughter Josie was in the NICU we played hymns for her continuously, and now if she's ever fretful or sick, I can just play that music and it'll help calm her and she'll usually go right to sleep. Music is a very healing thing.
It's powerful and it's a language, really, in itself. It speaks a message, and so our family is careful about the type of music that we listen to on a regular basis. I think it's important to put the right kinds of things into our lives, whether it's food, literature or music. Whatever it is, we want to fill our lives with things that are going to edify us and encourage us and help us along.
Music is something that my husband Jim Bob and I have always wanted our children to be able to play and enjoy. I've noticed that when the kids are stressed -- they're getting ready to take a test -- they will go to their instruments and just play.
It's a form of stress relief for them. They may have big decisions or there's a lot going on in their life. They'll just go and sit and play, whether it's their violin, the piano, the mandolin, or the harp and then they go back to their task. It does help soothe and calm, and make you better able to deal with what's at hand.
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