Ground Hog Day

'Dada" is her blanket. She plays games on my old broken iphone.

Why no blog entry? Well, it was the trifecta of hoopla this week. Suzuki Piano Teacher's Guild Advanced Students Recitals today. Suzuki Association of Minnesota festivals data entry all week. And I've got to get my studio chamber music festival organized and the music to the string players ASAP as it is only three weeks away and I still don't have a violist for my quartet. Tomorrow church--choir at 8:00, Mary's Choristers sing at 10:30 and then Calvin has a jazz concert/masterclass at 1:00.  Monday morning 9:00 a.m. SAM meeting downtown and then the post meeting meeting to listen to the DVDs to see what upper level kids play in the honors graduation recital.  Both my printers are out of ink. I spent over 25 hours at the computer this week.

How many weeks until spring?  It's snowed yesterday and today. It was 15 below earlier this week.  Did the groundhog see his shadow? I have no idea. Spring can't come fast enough.

Our family is taking Spring Break early this year because our school break is Holy Week and we can't go anywhere then. We leave soon for Hawaii. That is a good thing. Sunshine. Warmth. Er-ba-dur. I bought four spray bottles of sunscreen last week at Target. That's all we really need. I'll be packing the night before. Bill suggested loading a few videos on his ipad to watch on the plane. I thought to myself that eight hours sitting in a chair with nothing to do didn't actually sound that bad. I'm not easily bored.

The recitals today were beautiful. I was happy with Calvin's Mozart, which is saying a lot. If I can't teach my own kid how to love Mozart I will have failed at something very dear to my heart. Everyone played lovely. Not flawless. But lovely. Beatriz's student Seth stole the show with his Rachmaninoff.  Bravo!  I get the award for the studio parents who stay and chat the longest, which is also something I'm very proud of.  Relationships matter.  Maybe more than the playing. Definitely more than the playing.

SPTG Advancing Recitals. SAM Graduation Festival. Chamber music weekends.  These things take huge amounts of planning and quite a bit of printer ink as well. My printers pay their dues. Weeks like this I could use a full time administrative assistant, not to mention a housekeeper. I complained a little this week, okay maybe even a lot.  I even cried once when I thought my SAM spreadsheet was corrupted. Bill talked me down from that ledge and found the file safe and sound somewhere in the bowels of my computer.  I complain, but deep down inside I know that I love doing this for the students.  It's important and valuable. Days and recitals like today make it worth it.

I talked to a dear friend this week. But, she always makes me wonder if I'm pushing my kids hard enough at the piano. For once in my life I had the presence of mind to say the right thing at the right time. I reminded her--relationships first, love of music second, and everything else is a distant third.  If we have perfection, commitment and a conservatory scholarship, but our child resents us or is burnt out at the piano, we have still lost. That's what I believe. And that's what I'm basing my studio upon.  First love of the child, second love of the music.

Third, make sure to take a break when you need it and I do need it.  Aloha. . . shaved ice and sand.