Babies

The Colorado Lullaby Project Bridges Mental Health and Parenting

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 06:00:00 +0000

The Colorado Lullaby Project Bridges Mental Health and Parenting Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/02/2021 - 00:00

Kelsey Yandura

When Susan Ornitz first heard her custom lullaby, created by students at CU’s College of Music, she was floored. Her 7-month-old daughter Zoe loved it, too.

“She was so excited. She just started squealing. It was like she knew it was written for her,” said Ornitz.

In December 2020, Ornitz agreed to participate in CU’s Colorado Lullaby Project, a program pairing student musicians with new parents to create a custom song for their little ones. Over the course of several collaboration sessions, mother and musicians used details about Zoe — her nickname, favorite stuffed animal and emerging personality — to craft a very personal song.

Months later, though Zoe has grown, the song (titled “Little Wild Thing”) is still special for the mother-daughter duo.

“We still love to sing it together on our stroller walks,” Ornitz said. “I didn't think of it as something that was going to be so memorable, but it’s such a special thing to us now.”

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The Birth of the Project

The project began in New York City in 2011. As a part of Carnegie Hall’s community engagement programs at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx, composer and teaching artist Tom Cabaniss was working with HIV/AIDS patients in the pediatric unit when he heard murmurs about teen moms in the OB-GYN unit having a difficult time connecting with their newborns.

“I wondered what would happen if we could help these mothers create their own lullabies for their children,” said Cabaniss. “What kind of bond would that forge?”

Ten years later, Carnegie Hall’s Lullaby Project has a network of partners — including ��ƷSM��ӰƬ — across the globe. From Slovakia to Alaska, each iteration is unique. Some partners work with mothers in birthing centers, others in correctional facilities.

“The diversity of lullabies themselves can be so wide, and the expressions of the project can be equally wide,” said Cabaniss. In 2017, he had been toying with the idea of finding a research partner when CU’s Reneé Crown Wellness Institute and the College of Music’s Entrepreneurship Center for Music called, asking about the project. He was thrilled.

Grace Law

Together, they formed the Colorado Lullaby Project. The pilot program kicked off in 2020 under the direction of Grace Law (MMus’21), a graduate assistant with the Entrepreneurship Center for Music, with the help of Anne Fritzon (MPsych’20; PhD’24), a graduate student in clinical psychology.

Under the project’s model, student musicians help parents write the music, while the Crown Institute studies the effects of lullabies on the parents’ mental health, wellness and social connections.

Mother and Musician

Lullaby creation takes place over several sessions with the child’s mother, father or guardian and involves the creation of musical motifs, lyrics and melody.

Ornitz knew she wanted an Americana vibe in her song — an acoustic, roots-style tune that felt rustic and homey. From there, they began weaving relevant details into the lyrics. Though she doesn’t identify as a “creative person,” the team made the songwriting process accessible through various creative exercises.

For example, the team often asks parents to write a letter to their child. The personal nature of the letter helps give the artists insight into the parents’ world and shapes the lullaby’s message.

In Zoe’s “Little Wild Thing,” the “Viking girl” symbolizes a phase where she made little growling sounds. “My husband called them her ‘Viking noises,’” said Ornitz.

The song goes on to reference various animals, a nod to Ornitz’s occupation as a veterinarian and her daughter’s beloved stuffed animal collection.

The term “lullaby” is used broadly for the songs. “It doesn’t always have to be very calm and soothing. Some parents end up writing something upbeat to get their kids focused. It’s flexible, and they don’t have to fit in some certain box,” said Law.

This was true for Ornitz. “We kind of decided we wanted it to be a wake-up, happy type song,” she said.

“It's an equal collaboration, but we really try to empower the parent to create something that reflects what they want,” said Law.

Ultimately, the project is rooted in empathy — creating a lullaby with a parent is a practice of deep listening.

This gave parents something to be excited about and to look forward to. Many felt like they were strengthening the relationships with their families and their kids.”

Pivoting During a Pandemic

The university’s pilot season of the Lullaby Project was scheduled to kick off during the 2020 spring semester — until COVID-19 hit.

“We were slated to have all of our sessions in person,” said Law. “Once the pandemic happened, our team was still determined to make it work.”

They quickly reworked the model. Instead of meeting with mothers in person at birthing centers, everyone tuned in via Zoom, sometimes with team members logging in across the country.

“We had to think about how to imitate an in-person musical experience through the internet, still have it be engaging and still have people feel like it was a really gratifying experience,” said Law.

CU was the first national or international partner to implement the project digitally. Some parents even expressed a preference for the virtual model.

“It’s much more equitable in a way that parents don’t have to travel, and they don’t have to find child care. They can do it from the comfort of their own home, and they feel really comfortable,” said Law.

Findings and Future

Nearly all caregivers who completed the program reported a positive experience with the Lullaby Project at CU.

Researchers from the Crown Institute found families showed improvements in social connections and decreased loneliness. The lullabies also improved symptoms of depression and anxiety. Many parents reported the lullaby had a positive impact on their relationships with children, partner or family.

“Throughout the pandemic, there’s been a collective sense of hopelessness,” said Law. “This gave parents something to be excited about and to look forward to. Many felt like they were strengthening the relationships with their families and their kids.”

“Especially with COVID and the challenges of being a new mother, the project made me feel special,” said Ornitz.

The Colorado Lullaby Project has served over 60 families to date. Law plans to make this program available every fall and spring and have continuous enrollment for both students and parents or guardians to be engaged in the project.

“This is going to be a long-standing program for us,” said Law. “Our plans are to really hone in how we’re doing it here and be able to spread it to other universities to reach more families.”

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Illustration by Marion Deuchars

CU project pairs student musicians with new parents to create custom songs for their babies.

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Creating a Dad's Bag

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Feb 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Creating a Dad's Bag Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 02/01/2020 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

Gavin Lodge couldn't find a fashionable diaper bag for fathers, so he created his own.

It wasn’t for a lack of effort. Gavin Lodge (IntlAf, Phil’99) just couldn’t find what he was looking for.

When he and his partner, Todd Ellison, were preparing for the birth of their first child in 2011, a key baby item was not meeting their needs: The bag.

“It was while we were doing registry stuff that I wondered, ‘Why isn’t there a slick-looking diaper bag out there?’” said Lodge, a New York City actor. “Everything was either quilted or feminine or schlumpy and apologetic.”

Eventually, they relented: “We bought a schlumpy bag.”

Upon welcoming their second child in 2013, Lodge was not giving in as easily. He decided to design his own diaper bag with dads in mind.

The effort took years. Lodge was performing in the Broadway play Annie and juggling life with his two children, Ellison and Colton. By the time he had a usable bag, his youngest was out of diapers. But he’d sparked a long-term venture for himself.

“There’s this baby industry out there almost entirely catering to moms,” he said. “I want to empower dads.”

In fall 2016 he launched his diaper bag company, E.C.Knox, with a navy bag with black racing stripes. A year later, Barneys New York was selling it.

“I like to say I built this company in four-hour increments of babysitting,” said Lodge, who often raced to design meetings across the Manhattan Bridge on his bicycle.

His sleek messenger-style bag contains ample pockets; removable, waterproof linings; a zip-out changing pad; flashlight; computer sleeve; and instant access to wet wipes. It converts to a backpack when needed. And there’s room for a sippy-cup — or, when occasion arises, a wine bottle.

“I definitely designed that intentionally,” Lodge said.

Entrepreneurism wasn’t part of Lodge’s career plan as an actor, nor was it a thought in college.

Lodge, an only child who grew up in Lakewood, Colorado, received a Boettcher Scholarship, which brought him to ��ƷSM��ӰƬ. Aspiring for a foreign service career, the Presidents Leadership Class member jumped full force into college life.

“With his incredible time management skills, he was good at everything he committed himself to,” said CU theater professor Bud Coleman, who worked with Lodge on three CU musicals.

But when the Broadway musical Rent came to town seeking talent, Lodge — a member of the CU a cappella group Extreme Measures — was intrigued and tried out.

He didn’t make the show, but the experience was transformative in making him rethink his future plans: “I didn’t feel like having a career yet.”

After graduation, he worked for the 2000 Al Gore presidential campaign and then as executive assistant for Maria Cantwell, a U.S. senator from Washington. She encouraged him to pursue a job in Washington, D.C. But Lodge still felt a pull to Broadway, and moved to New York instead.

He made his Broadway debut in 2004 by performing in the musical 42nd Street. He also met his partner Todd, who was a conductor for the play.

In 2009 the couple decided to have children via surrogate.

Their parenting experiences shaped Lodge’s bag design, which often ranged from quick diaper changes on city park benches to business meetings after preschool drop-off.

After receiving his first bag sample in spring 2016, a fellow preschool parent helped him secure 15 minutes to pitch his bag to Barneys.

Today, his $250 bags are sold at Maisonette, the online luxury baby retailer, Amazon and several boutiques across the country, including Twinkle by Zoe in Aspen, Colorado. Lodge also has expanded his E.C.Knox line to include a weekender bag and swaddle blankets.

“Politics taught me that if I knock on more doors than the competition,” Lodge said, “my persistence will pay off.”

Photos courtesy Gavin Lodge

Gavin Lodge couldn't find a fashionable diaper bag for fathers, so he created his own.

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