Pomp and Circumstance

I am sitting down to write this as a reward to myself for having folded and completely put away six loads of laundry.  I did that so that tomorrow I can get it all back out to pack the four of us for Hawaii.  I'm not going to ask why Mary had four pairs of summer shorts in the wash for one winter weekend in Minnesota.

I'm drinking a large fully caffeinated beverage and eating a large portion of Girl Scout cookies as well.  Today is as good of a day as any to return to my own personal dietary habits.  For the last month I tried to be good by eating three meals a day and reducing caffeine.  I gained four pounds.  Just a great reminder that when we try to follow someone else's ideas about what is healthy for us it almost always backfires. I return to my usual plan of eating mostly healthy foods when I'm hungry, drinking coffee till noon and snacking on little bites of chocolate throughout the day.  So there.  It has worked for 25 years.

Sunday we leave for Hawaii--eight of us.  I realize this officially puts me into the spoiled rotten category. I can accept that.  There is some little part of me who tries to justify and say that I deserve this for all the weeks and parts of weeks that I have been a single parent while Bill was commuting for Delta and getting free tickets and staying at Marriotts to get us free hotel points.  But I know more than a handful of women who do this all the time and never get a free trip out of it.  I'll just be thankful and put on some sunscreen.

Saturday is the Suzuki Association of Minnesota Graduations in conjunction with the Suzuki Piano Teacher's Guild's Festival.  Nine recitals at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, downtown Minneapolis. The graduates from each level one through seven prepare a recording of the graduation piece and all the teachers who are involved evaluate one another's students, filling out a comment form to return to them.

This is so tricky.  In order to be of any value the process must involve some honesty.  Otherwise we might as well preprint the comment forms: GREAT JOB!  WONDERFUL MUSIC! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!  But, it isn't always a great job and it isn't always wonderful.  Yet there is much hoopla about keeping the comments positive and using very specific language to make any constructive comments at all.  I understand.  We don't know these students.  Some comment to a volatile adolescent could put them over the tipping point to quit.  Yet, I want other teachers to be honest with my students and share any issues, chances are they are things we have already talked about and getting a second opinion is valuable.

I guess I have tried to come up with a few guidelines to try to make the comments positive, encouraging and also valuable and honest.

• Consider the age of the graduate.  You are going to give different comments to a seven-year-old book two graduate than a 14-year old.  
• Give mostly positive comments with maybe one suggestion
• Follow the golden rule.  How would I feel it someone wrote this comment to my own child?  

That's about it.  It's still tricky.  We have all had some teenager who just barely scraped together a recording that was palatable. When that happens--I want the comments to say, "I'm so glad you made a recording and that you are STILL taking piano lessons.  Now, next time get it together!"   Truly it would be more fun for them to turn in a killer recording that they would be proud of.  If it takes 30 tries to get a recording they probably weren't ready to graduate.  Tough stuff.  

I need to go pack.  Bill and I have been watching the Modern Family DVDs that we got for Christmas.  In one episode they are going to Hawaii.  The husband is telling the wife to relax.  She replies:  I'm a stay at home mom taking my kids to Hawaii.  THIS IS A BUSINESS TRIP.    So true.  I am the CEO of travel preparations, if we get there with no goggles it's gonna be my fault.  Ditto on the inflight entertainment. . .