I'm here! I'm alive! And this has been my mantra for the last 7 months or so, since I discovered morning, noon and night sickness again. Yes, we are being blessed with another member to our family next month! But it has taken a serious toll on my ability to do just about anything. The guilt, the messes, the guilt - ak! There are weeks where I don't have the energy for daily violin and piano with WonderGirl, and I repeat this to myself again and again - MOVE SLOWLY AND DON'T STOP. The only way I can fail is if I quit.
When I started teaching WG, my mom gave me the best advice - you can make a mountain one spoonful at a time. So even if I couldn't heap on tons every day, just constantly adding a bit more to our pile of experience would equal something bigger someday. This has been very helpful during my pregnancy, especially because piano lessons are increasingly difficult with a 3 year old brother dying to steal the piano away. So some weeks, we've had to settle for one of two sessions together - but I didn't beat either one of us up about it, I knew it was all just another spoonful for our mountain. Some weeks violin practice is very thin or nonexistent, but we're not quitting, we're just taking a different pace. We are still growing! The important part is connecting with each other, giving her a new skill to develop and accomplishing something she can take pride and enjoyment in.
She's just hit the 2nd Faber Piano Adventures book on piano - eep! - and one song away from completing the first Suzuki violin book while learning to read violin music. I couldn't be happier, especially because we are traveling this journey together. And you won't believe it - my 3 year old begs for violin lessons now! I've taken the same mountain building approach and his lessons are just a few minutes each - and so far, his wee hand can manage a bowhold and he can hold the violin without dropping it for a good long while. I don't care if he ever reaches massive technical feats on the violin, I do care that he is learning to stand quietly with me, learn something new and develop his ear and body. It's a magical thing to witness in a 3 year old who rarely stands still for anything. Or course he knows at the end of the lesson there is the chance to earn a treat... something from his Halloween stash usually, so there is definite motivation there :)
I have friends with much more regimented schedules and they are an inspiration to me - but I have to constantly stop and check myself before I start comparing and feeling inadequate - I am doing all I am capable of doing right now, and most importantly - no matter how slow I move, I will not stop.
