Catching Up

Last May Jaron and I decided that Olivia needed a new challenge in her life. We weren't exactly sure what to do or what she needed, but we both knew that she was ready to be challenged in some way. Days at the park with friends, and play groups were great, but with her rapidly expanding brain cells we felt she needed more than just a social life.

In June, my visiting teacher told me about the Suzuki violin method, and the amazing Suzuki violin teacher, Patty, that her children were going to.

In July, I called Patty to see if there were any openings in her studio. Patty told me that she had a waiting list and that she wasn't sure when there would be an opening. For all I knew it could have been a few years.

In August, Olivia and I observed and attended private and group lessons, and I read "Nurtured by Love" by Shinichi Suzuki to learn more about the Suzuki method.

In September Patty called me and said that something had worked out so that she now had an opening on Mondays at 8:30.

On October 5, 2009 Olivia had her first violin lesson.

On December 24, 2009 Olivia and I did "Pop Goes the Weasel" on our violins together in front of my family, as a grand surprise to my Mom who had no idea that I had started Olivia on the violin.



It hasn't been an easy road. I'm glad that we prayed over the decision to start Olivia in violin and felt so guided, because it has kept us working hard at it. As you can imagine it is no easy task to get a three year old to focus for an entire 30 minutes a day to do her violin "games", but she is learning. I have taught her the famous Julie Beck phrase "I can do hard things" and she repeats it every day as she tries to learn a new task.

Sometimes she cries when I tell her it's time to play, but every time she finishes she gets a huge happy grin and says "I did it!".

I'm so happy that we can have her involved in something that is challenging and fun. When I have a little more time I will post a video of her Christmas Eve performance.


Happy New Year!

Stay tuned for many more posts!

How was your Christmas?