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Homemade carnival games and kid-made party ideas

Last weekend we went to a birthday party for an eight-year-old who wanted a fairy party, in a park, with carnival games and volleyball playing. Lucky for her, we have a park that fit the bill. And she has a mom who embraces these ideas, helping her make them happen.

I thought some of the ideas were so great I wanted to share them with you.

I’ll start with the carnival games, made and designed by the eight-year-old herself. With a prize area that included the children making their own goodie bags with stickers, erasers, hair clips and candy.

Other activities included decorating a beach ball and making a fairy wand, kid-ideas inspired by supplies from the dollar store.

The mom and daughter made the homemade cookie cake together, using special chocolate produced in a facility with no nuts since her little sister has a nut allergy. The birthday girl requested a bake potato bar for the main entree at the party, with hot potatoes and all the fixings laid out from home. There was also butterfly shaped sandwiches with decorative flowers, which was what my daughter chose.

It was a fun time for all ages.

With lots of fun for the birthday girl. She is a special friend of ours, that we have known since these two girls where babies. They were part of our very first play dates we had when we moved to Knoxville in 2005. And the moment I saw their matching stroller in the driveway, I knew us mamas would be good friends. They are neighbors of ours. And they give us one more reason to renovate our house instead of moving. Happy birthday girl. Here’s to the next eight years!

 

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Our new favorite Kid Made Modern art supplies

We have been a fan of Todd Oldham since I found his book Kid Made Modern last year.  When my girls need some inspiration I throw out the book and something always comes to us – like the box houses we made last June to kick off our TV Free Summer.

That is why I was so thrilled to see his new line of art supplies in Target, which became available May 20! It’s the perfect thing to stock up on for summer.

Shopping for a birthday gift for an eight-year-old, I knew we could find something in that isle.

My daughter immediately chose the Diary Kit. At the party, the gift was a hit.

“I have been wanting to make my own diary forever,” said the birthday girl when she opened the gift. As the party was dying down she told my daughter her gift was her favorite. They soon found a tree to cop a squat under and wasted no time getting to work on that diary, using the hardback book, wooden stamps and markers provided in the kit.

As a mom of girls who can NEVER have too much tape on hand, I grabbed a set of the Printed Tape. The eight colorful rolls of tape are proving to be just as much fun as I thought they would, and full of open ended creativity.

First my toddler sorted the tapes, then stacked the tapes, and cut pieces of tape to stick all over the table. It comes off easily, adding to why this tape is one of my new favorite things.

Once the big girls saw what was happening they swopped in. My oldest girl used the cardboard tube the tape came on to make the telescope shown at the top of this post. My middle girl covered an old cardboard can to make a drum.

Not bad for an art supply that costs under $7!

The rest of the tape went into a basket and was placed on a shelf with paper, for the girls to choose at any time. Now the signs and paper art made from tape are in abundance too!

The Duck Tape Kit is next on my list. Because what girl wouldn’t want to make a purse out of funky patterned duck tape? Or maybe I should just make it for myself. Either way, my girls will be impressed.

I have thought about buying fun rolls of duck tape many times before for a project like this. But to buy a good variety would have been too pricy.

Usually I am not a big fan of pre made art kits because I believe they cost more money than necessary, seeing you could just buy the supplies and do it yourself for less money. That is not the case here. I think these kits are worth it. They are really good ideas, that kids really want to make. They are packaged  in a way that is earth friendly versus glossy boxes that can’t be recycled, and contain quality made, reusable art materials.

Everything I saw, I knew my kids of varying ages would love – bead stringing with pipe cleaners, glitter glue galore, shimmery acrylic paints, necklace kits with real beads, basic paint brushes, canvases for painting, felt kits, paper flower making kits, comic book making kits. Can you tell I’m sold?

Here is a link to all the Kid Made Modern art supplies available at Target, so you can look and see what would be a favorite at your house.

This isn’t any kind of sponsored post and I’m getting nothing in return for this. I just wanted to spread the word to all the mamas out there looking for simple ways to keep your creative kids entertained this summer at home.

I know I’ll be buying more of these supplies for summer, and stashing them away for a raining day. Because when it comes to summer, a mom has to be prepared!

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Playing with dough never gets old

Friday I asked my toddler’s teacher what kind of lessons she likes the most at school right now, because I am setting up some Montessori style activities for her this summer.

She told me three things: homemade play dough with flour mixing, bead stringing and paper cutting.

That evening we were making homemade pizzas so I divided up some dough for the girls, and even my seven-year-old came running to join in the fun. All sitting around the “tiny table” as my toddler calls it, they played with dough and flour for a good thirty minutes.

I had just ordered three new cutting boards and rolling pins which made three perfect play dough lessons for three girls.

For this summer, I’ll leave this lesson on our shelves as one that can be chosen at anytime.

I know just who will be picking it the most. And if she is lucky, her sisters will join her again. Because this time, I think it was her favorite part.

 

 

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Positive Discipline with the “Green Chair”

My toddler is quite feisty if you ask me. Really, they all are right? It’s the age of independence and them wanting to do everything themselves. Sometimes it inevitably results in frustration and them acting out due to their inability to rationalize or communicate what is happening. Or maybe it’s just them being mad that things are not happening the way they would prefer during times when that is not a possible option.

We try to practice positive discipline, with attachment parenting philosophies of respecting the child, with the hope they model that respect back to us and their siblings.

In the grand scheme of things, I think it works. But sometimes it doesn’t – like all attempts at parenting. And no mater what, sometimes it’s all trial and error. Every stage and phase is different, bringing different solutions. Basically there is never an easy answer.

AND I know the hard times are yet to come – when there are three teenage girls living under one roof here. But one thing that has remained constant for us so far, is a child’s need for space to calm themselves down before we can really work things out.

Time out never really worked for us. It goes too much against giving a child a choice and displays too much of the parent showing authority over the child.

So right now, when my toddler needs to cool off a bit, she goes to her “Green Chair.” When she chooses to hit instead of using her words, I say, “Acting this way is not okay. Please go to your Green Chair until you can be sweet.” Now when this happens she runs right to it. She sits, rocks, cools down and then returns for a hug – when she is ready, by her own choosing.

When I was a child my mom called this concept “The Thinking Chair.” And we had to sit in it and think about what we had done. The chair was a gold throne high back chair, velvet with tucked buttons, straight up 1970’s. It sat in our formal living room where no one ever went, except to visit “The Thinking Chair.”

That vintage chair now sits in our children’s living room and my big girls use it as their thinking chair, like my toddler’s “Green Chair.” There are times when they all visit theses spots all on their on choosing, for some peace and quiet.

Then there are the times when all the sisters are acting out together (which does happen occasionally). And I sit them all on the sofa and tell them no one can get up until they all choose to get along. It usually always includes a silly lecture from me about how lucky they are to have sisters because I never had one. Sometimes I sit with them.

In the end it turns into a big cuddle fest – after a small amount of kicking, hair pulling and tongues sticking out. But hey, that’s what sisters are for right?

I’m reminding myself of these times and strategies as we enter summer – a 72 day stretch where starting Friday it will be me and them 24/7.

We’ll have a classic camp free summer, with no schedules other than music lessons and weekly art classes at home with a local artist. There will be no TV other than movie morning Fridays. And together, we will all survive – with our “Green Chair” as well as “The Thinking Chair” and group hugs on the couch when needed.

We are close group, us four girls. I’m laying the ground work now for me to be one of them, hoping this equal respect of positive discipline will carry us through the teenage years with flying fun times.

Wish me luck!

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Prepping for major renovations at this old house

It’s official. On June 18 this old house of ours well start the process of a major interior renovation! Exterior renovations were part of phase one. And now the green light is officially on, for phase two and three.

A bathroom roof will come off, a mudroom will be built, a new kitchen will transform from the old, and the girls will essentially have a new house upstairs with a space all to their own. No longer will all five of us co-exist in two bedrooms and one tiny 5’x8′ bathroom in a 1500 square foot space with hideous metal kitchen cabinets from the 1950s.

It’s a realization of a dream I have had for this old house since the first day we looked at it during the summer of 2005. It’s not rationally, nor financially, the smart thing to do – seeing we could just move to a nice new house for about the same amount of money we are putting into this old house. But it wouldn’t be the same.

All these scenarios went though out heads last week as we perused the internet and drove through neighborhoods thinking about a new house with a pool and everything already fixed for us. We were wooed with a case of the wants. But really, we knew in our hearts that’s not what we wanted.

I was reminded of that several days in a row with friends stoping by, just at the point when we needed to see a friendly face. They were all neighbors. And our children are growing up together.

A friend of mine made an evening call to see if I wanted to get out for a drive with her while she ran an errand, just to catch up. A couple nights later we had an impromptu cookout with neighbors and the boys next door.

I thought about the girls being thrilled every time their older friend from up the street appears on the sidewalk riding her scooter, looking for them to play. And when impromptu sleepovers happen with friends as close as sisters, because the fun never wants to stop.

There are so many families living here that we all got together for Halloween and filed with the city to close the road for Trick-or-Treating. When babies are born enough meals are cooked for the new parents that they go weeks with hot dinners delivered to their door. And where else could I live where I can send out an email with and SOS call for veggie broth while making soup for sick kids, and have someone else’s husband stop on his way home from work to pick some up for me? Or have Grandparent-like neighbors who build a staircase to their yard with my daughter’s name on it, for easy access when they call them over to pick blueberries. Nowhere.

If we lived in a house off the beaten bath, with more woods, or surrounded by homes all having counters of granite – I came to the realization it would really just feel like a big empty house to me. I’m not dogging granite countertops. I like them a lot. But where in East Tennessee, in a subdivision where all the houses have granite countertops, you are not likely to find a purple house. And I find comfort in the fact that someone in our neighborhood just painted their house purple. Homes in our neighborhood have spirt, individuality, history, and people giving them a whole lot of love.

The life around us makes our home. Our friends make us happy. Our community makes me happy.

After this exercise last week of driving, and looking, and dreaming, and imagining us living somewhere different. We realized we are right where we need to be.

Our little neighborhood you see, is kind of off the beaten path. It’s full of interesting people, artists, children, gardeners, musicians and business owners, all living a little off the beaten path together.

When we moved to Knoxville six years ago one of my husband’s co-workers lived here. They were transplants from the DC area. We were moving from downtown Atlanta, where homeless people asked us for money in our driveway. Our new friends convinced us this was the place we needed to be. Colorful and family oriented, minus the homeless people eating my homegrown tomatoes from my front yard.

Our realitor had never sold a house in South Knoxville. We lucked up by finding ours through word of mouth, that someone from Atlanta was moving here and looking for a house. The 80 year-old woman called us! We took one look at the house with no central heat and air, covered in wallpaper, antiques, shag carpet, all bathtubs and zero shower heads – and said it’s perfect. The magnolia tree in the front yard and the big front porch sold us. It was all it took.

For the first several years we lived here we were still known as the people in the “Weaver’s House.” The Weaver’s lived here for 35 years. When we met them, the first thing Mrs. Weaver said was, “You’ll have to have more kids to fill up this big house.”

That we have done. And now the upstairs will get restored, with central heat and air, a larger bathroom and three little girls to fill it up.

The first morning we saw the house she was in the kitchen at 9:30 a.m. cooking shrimp and grits on a cast iron stove, a faux variety made by the House of Webster that still sits in my basement (if anyone wants to come haul off the the 300 pound beast out of my basement – it’s all yours). I tried using that stove, in her honor, for a few weeks after we bought the house. But after I had to buy a smaller cookie sheet to fit in the oven and then flip the cookies half way through to get them to bake – I turned in the towel and ordered an upgrade.

This is what the kitchen looked like when we bought at the house. 

And now the whole kitchen will finally get the upgrade I’m sure Mrs. Weaver would approve of, with hand built custom cabinets to match the original built ins and soapstone countertops.

And it all starts July 18!

Excuse me now, I must get busy packing up half my house into spaces we can use this summer, while we co-exist with our three contractors and the many improvements to come.

It should be interesting!

I’ll keep you posted.

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Weekending with no internet was kind of nice

Friday morning our internet and cable went out, and stayed out through Sunday. We don’t watch much TV except for a movie after the kids go to bed on the weekends. But not this weekend. I caught up on magazines, we sat on the front porch and read the paper, cooked out with friends, we him-hawed around, visited the pool, chatted with neighbors and passerby’s – kind of like the old days.

And I got to tell ya, it was darn nice. I didn’t miss this old computer one bit. We’re taking it slow this weekend. I hope you are doing the same.

A note about the Carry Me Close Giveaway – Amy number 38 was the winner. But you’re email was not attached to your entry. So email me at rebecca@simplynaturalmom.com – because you won! 

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A Simple Moment

A Simple Moment is a post that appears here every Friday.
A photo I want to remember of a simple moment, with a few simple words.

If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link in the comment section for all to see and read. 

Golfing traditions with Dad…and she hits her first ball!

A Simple Moment was inspired by SouleMama. Visit her site to see many more moments.

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A Heart for Guatemala, a cultural lesson for children

One of the parents in my daughter’s Early Childhood Community (ages 3-6) at school, is the Executive Director of A Heart for Guatemala, Bethany Davison-Widby. She will be leading a trip to Guatemala with a group of volunteers from Knoxville this summer, bringing her son along too. The volunteers will be visiting seven different villages around Lake Atitlan and providing support in a variety of ways.

I’m telling you a little about it in hopes that you might consider visiting the website, and donating to the cause of helping these young Guatemalan children live a better life.

To help with these efforts and educate the children on Guatemala, the ECC students have been taking in “Change for Chickens,” that will be used to purchase and distribute chickens to families.

Guatemala has the forth highest rate of malnutrition in the world and the majority of the population lives in extreme poverty.   Most of the families that A Heart for Guatemala works with subside on tortillas and salt for every meal. Sometimes they go without any food at all.

Egg-laying chickens are an important source of protein for children and adults.  Families may choose to a) keep the chickens for their eggs, b) eat the chickens, c) sell the chickens and buy smaller chicks to raise.  You can donate 3 chickens and feed for $45 and you can be assured the chickens will go to a family that is in desperate need.

 

My daughter has enjoyed the sampling of children’s clothing from Guatemala that has been placed in suitcases in their classroom, learning more about their culture. Pictures of children, families and their lives in the villages have been displayed in each classroom so students can see what life is like in a Guatemalan village, and where their “Change for Chickens” is going.

One of the volunteers going to Guatemala this summer through A Heart for Guatemala is a teacher at my daughter’s school. Students are also collecting supplies that can be used for her to create Montessori lessons for the Guatemalan children.

Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty in Guatemala. Schooling at any level in Guatemala is not free, and most children never have the chance to step foot inside a classroom.  A Heart for Guatemala is working to change that.  Through grants, donations, and school sponsorships, they are tackling extreme poverty head-on by giving children a chance for an education while also meeting their basic needs of food and clothing.

Even the smallest donation can bring a world of difference to the people living in these villages. This is a great opportunity to support this organization that provides incredible services to families in need.  This summer’s trip will be documented and photos will be displayed at A Heart for Guatemala – where there are several ways you can help!

Here is an online wish list of educational items to help in the classroom.

In addition to providing egg-laying chickens, other current initiatives include providing nutritious food baskets, dry goods, and milk program for infants. Each food basket contains dried goods (corn, beans and rice), a chicken, fruit, vegetables, pasta, and other sources of protein.   Food baskets feed approximately 10 people for 1 1/2 weeks and are only $35 to donate. 

 

 

 

Raising fund to buy ONIL Stoves for families is another big innovative for A Heart for Guatemala. Many of the families cook over open fires either inside their one-room home or directly outside it. From the day children are born, they are carried on their mothers’ back while they cook over the open fires. Unfortunately cooking daily on open-fires is very dangerous – young children often fall and are burnt by the fires. According to the World Health Organization, the leading cause of death in this age range is acute respiratory infection, from breathing the heavy smoke from cooking fires. One out of five children inGuatemala does not live to age 5.   ONIL stoves make a home more healthy to live in, safer for adults and young children, and greatly reduce the environmental impact.  ONIL stoves are $180 to sponsor.

 

You can also sponsor a student, for $190 year, which provides them with supplies and full year’s worth of education. When you do this your family is sent emails with photos of the student you sponsor, which you can share with your child. This is arranged through the site Mayan Families Connection Guatemala. Or you can contact Bethany, at bethany@aheart4guatemala.org for more information.

 

 

I hope you’ll consider giving to this wonderful organization. Go to the website, share it with your family, sign up for the newsletters and updates, and follow some the children’s stories. It’s a wonderful cultural lesson for children. All donations can be made at A Heart For Guatemala.

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Inside our kid-freindly kitchen cabinets

I think it’s official. The girls kitchenware far out numbers my gadgets and fancy dinnerware. These days the only entertaining I do is mostly for children and families anyway. And I like having my kitchen set up for the girls to easily help with things from setting the table, emptying the dishwasher, preparing their own snacks, to knowing where to find the right measuring spoon when baking cookies.

Sparked by my latest efforts to weed out plastic containers (even the BPA free ones) and create room for my quest of sampling glass sippy cups for toddlers and stainless steal lunch containers, it was time to reorganize those cabinets and drawers. And well, since I know how much people like to snoop in other people’s cabinets – because being curious how other people live is only natural – I’m giving you full permission to snoop away. Right here.

The following is a glimpse into the drawers and cabinets of our kitchen, that my children use the most. How it is organized and easily accessible to my daughters, and stocked with real prep ware, bakeware and serving utensils just their size.

With the girls we use Correlle dishes that are hard to break. We’ve been very pleased with these for several years. As for glasses, I seek out small sizes and even use mason jars. As babies they have all drank out of shot glasses, because of their small size for little hands. But now their are some really interesting things on the market.

I’m going to post reviews on a few of our new glass and stainless items soon, that we’ve been sampling. Details for the lunch stuff I’ll save for summer, closer to back to school season. But we are getting good use of it now, trying it out before school lets out.

This opening of the cabinets for you feels a bit like hanging out the dirty laundry to me, because our old metal cabinets from the 50’s are way past their prime. The good news is we are meeting with our contractor on Friday, to finalize our plans of replacing them with hand built custom cabinets to fit the style of our 1918 craftsmen bungalow. But for now, we continue making do with what we have, and cleaning them out often. And I line them with brown recyclable packing paper, or other reusable paper we have on hand.

But let me tell ya, those new cabinets will be worth the wait!

 

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Lessons from a first time music mom

There is a piano sitting in our living room. It was mine when I was a child. Some of the time I took piano lessons I liked it, some of it I did not. Towards the end I begged my mom to let me quit. I would “forget” my book when I went to lessons. And I banged on the piano until the 30-minute timer buzzed, signaling the end of my practice time.

I loved playing songs like Chariots of Fire, and the theme songs to the Facts of Life and Cheers. My mom did her best to find a teacher who allowed me to skip the classics and play the fun stuff I preferred. I’m sure, hands down, I was a difficult student.

Now lets fast-forward to my own living room today. There is a five-year-old playing the violin and a first grader playing the piano, MY piano. The same one I banged on, while listening to the timer go tick, tick, tick.

I really do want my children to learn an instrument. Taking music lessons, including the instruments they chose, was all up to them – completely their idea.

But I’m here to tell you, it is not easy being a music mom.

Last week we had a piano recital, a school musical, two group violin practices, one violin lesson and a violin recital. This is all coming from a mom who dreams of homeschooling where we do nothing but stay home, bake bread, do art and run through the woods. All in a simple style, with no schedules to follow or calendars to check.

I’m not the mom who sets up sticker charts, or gives allowance or doles out chores. I believe my girls will do what is right because it’s right, make their beds because it’s what we do (sometimes) and want to learn because it’s interesting.

But I’m here to tell you, getting a five-year-old to practice her violin is not easy. For weeks we’ve struggled getting her to practice just three times a week, for 10 minutes each. She has a chart from her teacher to practice five times a week, and get a sticker. When you get 15 stickers you get a prize.

My middle girl has been taking violin lessons since September. She had one week when she got a sticker on her practice sheet. Half the time, I must confess, I didn’t even know where the sheet was.

I understand this whole charts and sticker routine is normal for a lot of families. And that it works for them. I’m just not that gal. I make to do lists and loose my lists.

My oldest daughter on the other hand, practices her piano without being asked. One week she didn’t practice enough and was given a chart by her teacher to keep track of the days and times she practiced.

She loved it! Not because she got a sticker or a prize. She just likes being organized, filling out charts and checking things off a list.

I believe this is partly the product of Montessori education, and the system of having individual work plans in which the child is responsible for finishing by the end of the week. Partly it’s her personality. She likes the white kitchen timer that goes tick, tick, tick.

My five-year-old does not follow this orderly learning pattern. She is more like me.

She is on the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to how a child thrives in Montessori education. She does her own thing when she wants to do it. And if I tell her otherwise it feels like I’m forcing her to do something she doesn’t want to do. She will do it on her own time. And she will do it well, when she is ready.

I wondered if the girl would ever pick up a pencil and learn how to write her name, or want to make a card for a friend. Then a couple weeks ago she wanted to sign up for open mic night at the school picnic, to play her violin.

She brought home the sign up form and shocked me when she sat at the table and filled out the WHOLE thing by herself (with some spelling help). She answered what instrument she was going to play, what song, if she needed a microphone, how long her performance would be and if anyone would be performing with her.

I knew playing the violin was important to her. And this just proved it. She stands on the sidewalk playing her violin waiting for people to stop and listen to her. She hates to practice but she loves the part where she bows and people clap for her.

I struggled with this. To get the feeling of being rewarded she needs to practice, and get better, not just have people clap for her because she is cute. On the other hand, I’m not the mom to put the sticker sheet on the fridge and ask her to practice over and over again. When inevitably, whining and resistance will follow. I want it to be fun for her.

She learns best by observing others. She goes by her own clock.

I started wondering if taking violin lessons was really working for us. She started asking to play the piano, like her sister.

And since I’m not the mom to push the practice schedules, maybe it would be best if she did the same instrument as her sister, with her leading as the example. However, doing something different like the violin really does suit her spunky personality. And I know in her heart she really does love it.

Then I started asking other mom friends and musicians for their take on it.

What I leaned, is that when a parent wants their young child to learn an instrument (especially one that is as difficult as the violin) there is an equal level of commitment on their part.

A mom neighbor and friend of mine, who is a trained opera singer, a homeschooler and married to a university cello professor, said this:

“I don’t know one musician who says they didn’t have parents who made them practice when they didn’t want to. But they are glad they did because look where they are today.”

Her children, including her two-year-old (yes two!), are all sting players. And her son plays the cello in the junior orchestra. The two girls play the violin.

“They don’t have a choice. It’s just part of their home education,” she continued.

Mostly, if my children want to do something, I support them and help them. But I believe it is their thing and I let them lead the way. It’s the way we parent. But the more parents, musicians and teachers I talked to, I realized if we are going to do this violin thing with my daughter we were going to have to step up our game.

I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t think she really loved it.

Then again, she is ONLY FIVE. And is all this really worth it? Just for her to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star?

I agreed to let her switch to piano lessons as the days of her spring violin recital neared and I could barely get her to practice at all.

I was worried about the performance. That she would embarrass herself (or me) just to get the reward of entertaining people.

It also made me sad to think about her quitting something she has already put a lot of work into. Especially when I know it really does mean something to her. It’s HER thing. She’s the middle child and the violin is unique to just HER.

Leading up to the recital she had it in her mind she was done with violin after that. She didn’t even want to go to the recital.

“Going to the recital is going to ruin my whole fun day,” she said Sunday afternoon. “It’s too much for a weekend. ”

I told her we started this and we needed to follow through on it.

Once she came inside and put on her new recital dress, her mood shifted to excitement.

When we got to the church where the recital was being held, she went into another room with the violin players to practice their group songs. She ran back to my seat beaming that she did it perfectly.

“I stayed with the group the whole time!” she said proudly.

“That’s great,” I said. “If you have fun doing your recital will you keep playing the violin for me? Because it would make me sad to never hear you play again.”

Her response was, “Let me wait and tell you afterwards. When it’s all over.”

I returned to the question at dinner. And she excitedly, without a doubt, answered yes to continuing on with her violin lessons.

All my worrying if this commitment of playing the violin was right for her – and me – was all in MY head.

She loves to perform. When it’s time for her step in front of a crowd something inside her lights up and she does a great job. The girl muddling through a song practicing at home (and sounding awful I might add) disappears. She becomes a confident, violin player, for a five-year-old that is. 

I know she loves it. And when I have to ask her to practice, I’ll remember the pride she has after she performs. I may not do stickers and charts. But I think the reward she felt within herself Sunday was far better than whatever store bought treat comes at the end of 15 stickers.

The energy of the performance was exactly HER thing. Performing with friends is HER thing. The cookies afterwards and a proud, energetic teacher completed the picture. She has a great teacher!

I’m not a pushy parent. But I know the expert music mom I talked to is right, all young musicians need a little help along the way – a little pushing and a lot of encouragement.

So we’re going to stick with this violin thing.  I know we are both going to learn a lot along the way.

 

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