JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
We learn certain emotional truths through experience. We can be scared, but still be OK. We can build resilience. We can let go of things. These lessons can take a lifetime to learn. But what if we could learn them at age 3 in a lullaby? One songwriter is creating music just like this, and, as Deena Prichep reports, it's not just kids who are listening.
DEENA PRICHEP, BYLINE: Michelle Barrow had her twins during the height of the pandemic, and as soon as they were born, she started singing to them.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MY BODY IS MY HOME")
MICHELLE BARROW: (As Mama Nous, singing) My body is a good body, and it's the only one I'll ever know. So I treat it like a friend because my body is my home.
PRICHEP: Barrow started posting these songs on TikTok and Instagram under the name Mama Nous. That's N-O-U-S, like the French word for us. The melodies are sweet and simple, but the ideas are pretty big.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BULLY BRAIN")
BARROW: (As Mama Nous, singing) Sometimes my brain's a bully. Sometimes it says really mean things. Sometimes about myself, sometimes somebody else, but my brain don't know everything.
Obviously, you have to be careful to frame your message in a way that makes it available and appropriate for kids. But they can really handle some really big topics, and they want to be talking about and exploring really big topics.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BULLY BRAIN")
BARROW: (As Mama Nous, singing) I am not my thoughts, and I choose to listen to my heart.
PRICHEP: Barrow records out of her home studio and has never given a Mama Nous concert, unless you count her kids' preschool, but she's reached millions through social media. Signe Hawley Murray's family listens to Mama Nous songs every morning.
SIGNE HAWLEY MURRAY: The one that got us hooked was "Worrying Has Never Changed A Thing."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WORRYING HAS NEVER CHANGED A THING")
BARROW: (As Mama Nous, singing) Worrying has never changed a thing. And so all that I can do is try to bring a sense of steady calm till I know what's going on, 'cause worrying has never changed a thing.
PRICHEP: Hawley Murray says it's given their 6-year-old the language to understand feelings about big changes, like starting kindergarten. That helps her regulate not only herself, but the whole family.
HAWLEY MURRAY: My daughter one time, like, stopped me in the car and was like, Mama - of course I was, like, rushing out the door - and was like, Mama, worrying and rushing isn't going to change a thing. And I turned around and I started laughing, 'cause I was like, oh, my gosh, it's so true.
PRICHEP: Mama Nous' posts don't just resonate with kids. They're full of comments from adults who talk about how much these children's songs have helped them process their own emotions.
JEFF CERIA: What I was taught was to stuff it down - you know, to ignore it or to just get over.
PRICHEP: Jeff Ceria doesn't even have young kids, but he says hearing these songs has helped him kind of reparent himself.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHISPERING HEART")
BARROW: (As Mama Nous, singing) In the dark, you can listen to your whispering heart. Close your eyes, pay attention to your body.
At some point, we hit a certain age where we decide that we were - are supposed to have it all figured out. And I just don't ever think that that's true. I think we are all fumbling and figuring it out as we go along.
PRICHEP: Through Mama Nous, Michelle Barrow hopes that hearing these messages, especially sung to a catchy tune, can help people figure things out and grow up to be their best, loving selves at any age.
For NPR News, I'm Deena Prichep.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BULLY BRAIN")
BARROW: (As Mama Nous, singing) Sometimes my brain's a bully. Sometimes it says really mean things. Sometimes about myself, sometimes somebody else, but... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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