It’s been a busy 4+ weeks for The Pig Family, as my daughter likes to call us.
(She’s obsessed with Peppa the Pig).
My husband was jammed with year-end stuff for most of the Christmas holidays while I spent most of my days setting up science experiments and cleaning shaving cream off of our coffee table, and after only a week back to reality, we took a family vacation to Las Vegas.
And we had a fantastic time.
My husband and I were able to take a much-needed break from both of our jobs, our daughter found a ton of Peppa the Pig stuff at Toys R Us (will Peppa ever make it to Canada??!), the 3 of us spent a lot of quality time together, and we all caught up on our sleep.
It was heavenly.
When we were driving to the airport on our last day, I thought back to all of the trips my husband and I took before our daughter was born, and how depressed I used to feel when we returned back to reality, and it struck me that I no longer get that horrible post-vacation sadness anymore. Sure, I feel a little down in the dumps that my daughter and I won’t get to see my husband as often once we get home, and I may start to hyperventilate when I think of all of the unanswered emails that are waiting in my inbox, but I find parenthood is much easier (and much more enjoyable!) when we stick to our routine.
And while our lives are busy and hectic, and I feel sleep deprived and overwhelmed 100% of the time, I really (really) love our reality.
I love hearing my daughter sing in her crib while I unload the dishwasher and pack our bags each morning.
I love that I’m on a first name basis with the staff at the Starbucks near my daughter’s preschool.
I love the excited look that washes over my daughter’s face when she sees me in the crowd of moms at preschool pickup.
I love watching Amy Winehouse music videos on YouTube while we eat our lunch.
I love experiencing the world through my daughter’s eyes on each of our afternoon excursions.
I love curling up to read my daughter’s favorite My Little Pony book before I tuck her into her crib each night.
I love hearing the sound of my husband’s keys in the door each evening.
And I love the excited look on my daughter’s face on Saturday mornings when we walk into Yamaha Music School for our music lessons.
We’ve been doing lessons for over 4 months now, and I was a little worried my daughter would regress in her progress after the break, but she adjusted right back into classes without any issues whatsoever. In fact, even though the kids (and parents) sit at their own keyboards and don’t really interact with one another during class, we were all excited to see each other. And after one of the other moms asked if we would be enrolling in the next level of lessons in the fall so our children can be together, and another mom stopped to chat with us on our way home, I felt all warm and fuzzy inside.
It’s just a great group of people to share our first proper music lessons with, you know?
And I love how we all laugh and exchange looks when our kids do something funny during class.
It’s like we’re a team.
Of course, getting back into a routine with our at-home practice doesn’t leave me feeling quite as giddy with excitement, but the thrill of the new set of music books we received last Saturday coupled with Peppa the Pig’s newly found love for music seems to have helped:
A little creativity goes a long way, right?!
I realize we’ll have to be a bit more disciplined with our daughter’s music homework when she gets older, and that Peppa the Pig and her Sesame Street friends won’t be able to accompany her to all of her recitals, but for now, I’m all about making things fun.
For both of us.
(Who doesn’t like playing the piano with the cast of Sesame Street??!)
If you’re thinking of enrolling your kids in music lessons, I strongly encourage you to check out Yamaha Music School and the Yamaha Education Growth Initiative (EGI). It’s a rebate that works as a credit towards music lessons with the Yamaha Music Education System, and when you purchase a new Yamaha product between now and February 28, 2014, you qualify for a lesson tuition credit towards the Yamaha Music Education System group lessons. For example, if you were to buy a new Yamaha Grand Piano, you would get $500 towards group lessons with the Yamaha Music Education System.
Pretty cool, right?
There are a variety of instruments that apply to this initiative, each with their own level of rebate, and with 2015 well underway (how did that happen??), now is a great time to take advantage of this fantastic program.
You can read move about the Yamaha Education Growth Initiative, the rebates it provides, and the courses available RIGHT HERE.
What are your strategies for keeping your kids engaged in their music lessons?
I am part of the Yamaha Ambassador Campaign with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.
