We all think of our daughters as having a taste for fashion when it comes to clothes and shoes. I know my daughter does and sometimes myself. Well, my 22-month-old son has shown a high interest in his own fashion.
This is great, don't get me wrong, but when it starts to interrupt our morning routine ... something has got to give! Lately, he has refused to allow my husband or I to dress him in what we pick out. He screams, fusses and wiggles out of our arms. However, if we just let him down, he goes right to his clothes drawers and picks out his own clothing! This threw me for a loop. I was not expecting this out of him so early. So, this morning, when it was time to get dressed — and after his first distaste in what I chose — I took him to his room and opened the closet door.
Oh, he didn't know there were clothes in there, too! His eyes got big and he started to flip through them while I held him up high enough to reach them. He picked a shirt, which of course didn't match the shorts I was actually able to get on him. So, I chose another pair. He didn't like that very much, until I told him it matched and goes with his alligator shirt he just put on. He was a happy camper with that!
Then it came time to put shoes on. We were given several pairs of shoes from a family member, so we had some new ones to pick from. Oh, but he didn't like that. He picked them up, held them up to the bottom of his foot and said, "Too Big!", and then threw them down. He then went and picked out a pair of shoes he has been wearing and proceeded to put them on. After he was done getting dressed, he walked to the living room with this strut that was so funny all we could do was sit back and watch. He then said, "Let's go!"
So, is this how all the mornings are going to be? Hopefully he can decide what to where from now on without throwing any fits.
One of my favorite things about this time of year — aside from the impending summer stretch and trips to the beach! — is the influx of theater announcements around town to learn what’s coming next season. It’s always an interesting reveal ... sometimes baffling ... occasionally a mixed bag ... and once in a while, such an exciting, stellar list of shows that I can barely wait for the summer to fly by and new seasons take the stage.
The latter is certainly the case with TPAC’s 2012-13 season! Playing on the fact that Nashville is Music City, local audiences are in for a treat of a season full of nothing but musicals, and some amazing ones are coming. The regular lineup includes Anything Goes (Oct. 23 - 28), Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Nov. 13 - 18), Catch Me if You Can (Jan. 22 - 27, 2013), Traces (Feb. 19 - 24, 2013), Flashdance (March 19 - 24, 2013) and the long-awaited return of Disney’s The Lion King (May 7 - June 2, 2013). There are also two, short-run, add-on specials, American Idiot (March 5 - 7, 2013) and Rock of Ages (April 19 - 20, 2013).
If that’s not enough to get you excited, wait, there’s more! All Broadway shows start somewhere, and this summer (July 24 - Aug. 19), Nashville will be home to the world premiere of a brand-new musical, The Nutty Professor. Comic legend (and star/co-writer of the 1963 film) Jerry Lewis himself is directing and will be in town for the entire run to tweak, polish and sculpt as needed. With book and lyrics by Rupert Holmes and music by the sensational Marvin Hamlisch, The Nutty Professor is sure to be a memorable experience for families. After all, it’s extremely cool that we get to be the first to see it before it makes it on the Great White Way!
The photographs you take of your child’s next birthday will tell the story ... or not. What kind of story will it be? One in which you are racing around grousing that you don’t have time to throw a birthday party?
Most people agree that art is important for children. At the root is the fact that self-expression boosts a child’s ability to interact with the world around him, important for his overall development. You can easily encourage your kids at home with an assortment of supplies ranging from colored pencils and crayons to paint and clay. You can also take advantage of the many venues in the area that offer art activities for children.
One of my favorites is The Frist Center for the Visual Arts. It’s a great place to take your kids to connect them with art, and at its heart and soul resides the fabulous Martin ArtQuest Gallery on the second floor. What’s more, the activities and museum admission for kids 18 and younger are FREE!
Thirty different stations allow children of all ages to explore their creative minds through a hands-on approach. Here they can paint, sketch, make prints and more all while learning about the necessary elements of art like color, texture, perspective and beyond.
In fact, the different stations introduce kids to three distinct areas of art education: art essentials, art materials and techniques, and art and meaning, which encourages children to think about art and talk about it.
Some of the activities change in concert with current exhibitions in the galleries, so there’s often new projects to explore and learn from to stimulate the creative brain, and it’s so important for children to tap into that side of themselves no matter how old they are. It’s not just for kids, either! Moms and dads, you can have fun exploring your own imaginations right alongside your little ones, which will surely inspire them even more.
I believe that I have a new name for the song "Rockin' Robin." Every chance I get to turn around, there goes my 22-month-old hitting his little noggin on something ... AGAIN! I don't know which to be more concerned about — a concussion or his clumsiness.
Well, I personally don't think that it is him being clumsy. Anyone can witness him playing and he has no care in the world as to which way his tiny little legs are taking him. He throws his head back and laughs as he runs around playing. It's this carefree attitude that's knockin' his noggin around. One little misstep and he falls down and smacks his head on the closest object ... stairs, table, toy, fireplace, chairs, etc. Hence forth, you have "Knockin' Noggin. Tweet, tweet, tweetly tweet!" Because, you know he's got to be seeing stars or little birds tweeting when he hits his head. It's never a bad hit, just enough to make him cry — if only for a second or two.
I don't want to discourage him from playing, but I feel like I need to make him stop running sometimes. We don't really allow running through the house, but you know kids — they will do what they're not supposed to when they think no one is looking. Am I right? And, it's not bad parenting that causes them to do this. Nope. It's just your children learning their boundaries with you. At least, that's what I tell myself each and every day. LOL!
Back to my point. My little guy hits his head more often than a football player ... at least it seems like it. That doesn't stop him. He gets back up and after a hug and kiss on the head, back to running around the yard he goes. I even noticed him trying to slide across the floor on his knees! He is such a daredevil! This could be good ... or bad ... in the long run.
Here I sit alone at my kitchen table this Saturday night, wow what a bore I am! My 3 noisy boys are upstairs with Stewart — Predator's Hockey is on — so it's nice and quiet down here while the boys play knee hockey up there. Today I should have cleaned house but didn't. We had soccer earlier then I drove the boys to Madison for Titanic, the Musical rehearsals. Back home I just hung out and enjoyed watching Secretariat with the family rather than run around cleaning. We are all so happy to simply hang out with nothing else to do for a change — it's like a holiday and we are blessed. Earlier, Stewart came home with a gigantic greek salad and several boxes of deep-dish pizza a caterer friend gave him. Score! Amazed by the beautiful clouds over Brentwood the past two days, just an awesome display of might and glory. Looking forward to Sunday with my family, going to church ... Life with kids is amazing, indeed.
Well, he has gone and done it this time. His super urge to do absolutely everything himself has earned him a great big giant black eye!
It was last night during his bath that my 21-month-old needed to go potty. So, I took him out of the tub and stood him on his stool ... with a towel down over it so he wouldn't slip. When he was done, he wanted to flush the potty himself, but he didn't want to get down off the stool. He leaned over across the toilet bowl to flush and his feet went right out from under him. I was right behind him and caught him, but not before he hit his poor little head on the back of the toilet. He barely even cried and wanted to get right back in the tub to finish his bath.
My husband comes in to see what all the commotion was and asked how he got the big knot on his eye. His poor little eye caught the brunt of the fall and had swollen so big within seconds. We put a cold compress and ice in a rag on it, but he wouldn't sit still long enough for that. He wanted to play. So, I guess he's OK.
I was later told that if the swelling doesn't go down or if it gets any bigger, he needed to see his pediatrician. Apparently the swelling may cause damage to his eye or optical nerves. So, now I have to watch his little shiner to make sure it starts to go away.
Oh ... boys will be boys. Wouldn't you know it, the moment we get into the living room after he is all clean and dry, he starts running around and playing. He starts to do his little dance in the middle of the floor and the falls ... HEAD FIRST ... onto the carpet. His little two-step move may have garnered him another little bump of a prize.
His hair is growing out of control but it's the "flow" he wants. He is 9-years-old. He is full of vim and vigor and he is adorable. It's funny how much a kid becomes himself.
As someone who is a creative sort, not to mention an editor, I will admit that I’ve overused the cliché term “pushing the envelope” on probably too many occasions. But there really is something to that notion because of it’s meaning — exploring something out of the ordinary, taking a risk, doing something outside of one’s comfort zone and seeing whether it sticks or has any inherent value that means anything to yourself let alone anyone else.
When you exist in a creative arena, there is a need for what’s swirling around in your mind to resonate with an audience who can share and appreciate the same experience ... and it’s OK to explore things creatively that you keep to yourself ... things that might never be shared or ever see the light of day among the masses.
And sometimes, no matter how old or young you may be, it takes a little pushing from a friend or loved one to make you realize that there is more than meets the eye within yourself.
Case in point. One of my good buddies is a stand-up comedian who performs professionally and also hits open mic nights at a local haunt in town. Several weeks ago, when I was there just for moral support, he excitedly asked, “Are you going up tonight?!” I laughed at the notion before responding, “A world of NO!” I’m not a comedian. After egging me on a bit and a later conversation, I realized my friend saw something in me that I didn’t recognize in myself: that a lot of funny things do come out of my mouth randomly at times.
So, I decided to give it a whirl, and much to my surprise, I have found that writing comedy and jokes is something — which I never imagined I would ever do in my life — that I thoroughly enjoy, and after delivering it to an audience, realized I’m not too shabby in that arena. The creative outlet is immense, and I find myself actively making time at home now to pursue this new venture that’s just for fun. It’s definitely a sharp contrast to the style of writing I do for my job. And to think, if it hadn’t been the suggestion and ribbing from a pal, I would have never considering tapping into a part of my brain I never knew existed.
This is a great example of why it’s so important for parents to introduce their young children to creativity, to open doors of exploration and encourage them along the way. It’s also why it’s important when your older kids are plugged into something creative that they are really good at and comfortable with to keep applauding them, but also nudging them into exploring other pursuits and pushing envelopes in other areas they might not have considered but might wholeheartedly enjoy.
I have always known that my children are a bit ... spirited. They are highly energetic, constantly exploring and trying new things. It's their curiosity that seems to get them into unpredictable predicaments.
It's that time of year again. One of my biggest nights on TV — The Academy Awards. Every year, friends and I compare our lists of who we think will win, and yes, that's taking into consideration the politics involved with award shows.
This year, though, instead of banging out a list of who I think will win, I submit my list of who and what I think SHOULD win based on the actual performances and final product.
Best Picture — The Artist Leading Actor — Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Supporting Actor — Christopher Plummer in Beginners Leading Actress — Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady Supporting Actress — Octavia Spencer in The Help Animated Feature — Puss in Boots Art Direction — The Artist Cinematography — The Artist Costume Design — The Artist Directing — The Artist Film Editing — The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Makeup — Albert Nobbs Original Score — The Artist Sound Editing — Transformers: Dark of the Moon Visual Effects — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Adapted Screenplay — Tinker Tailor Soldier Boy Original Screenplay — The Artist
Only two more days to find out who wins what, and Meryl Streep will be robbed if she doesn't win for leading actress. Just sayin'.
Girls are so very different from boys ... aside from the obvious. My soon-to-be 6-year-old is a girly girl through and through.
I don't know where she gets it. I grew up being a tomboy — always outside, in the dirt, being rough and playing with the guys. I never truly cared what I was wearing or how I looked ... until I was in high school. Not the case for my little girl.
My little princess acts ... well, like a princess. She loves to play dress-up and is constantly changing her clothes and shoes. It didn't strike me until the other day that she is getting a little too particular about how she is dressed. After she asked me, "Do you think (so-and-so) will think I'm pretty in this dress?", and then with a turn of her hip and pointing her foot to the tip of her toes ... it hit me! She is too infatuated with looks and at too early of an age.
As soon as she gets home from school — if I haven't already directed her toward the backyard — she runs to her room, changes into a pretty dress, puts on my heels and prances around the house. She does this so often that my 20-month-old son has started to put my shoes on and follow her. She even gathers up her play makeup and heads to the bathroom to do her own makeup. I try hard not to laugh each time she shows me her latest creation. I say, "That's nice. Now, do you want to go outside and play?"
She has even gone as far as saying that she didn't like her big, winter coat because it didn't look right with her backpack. WHAT!? She clearly didn't understand that it was to keep her warm. And, then the shoes. Oh, the shoes!
She has one pair of dress shoes that she wears with special occasion dresses. They have a little heel to them, too. She wants to wear them with everything. She told me just the other day that there are a lot of girls in her school that are wearing heeled shoes. So, now she is comparing what she has to what everyone else has.
I fear that this new-found fascination with clothing and makeup will take a turn for the worst if I don't curb her the right direction ... and fast. I just have to keep remembering to tell her that she is her own person and that being different is awesome. It's so boring to be like everyone else.
We have been slowly introducing our 20-month-old to the potty over the last few months. He was intrigued by the little one we got him and loved to sit on it and pretend to go potty. After a few tries, he was done with it. He wanted no part of the little potty when it came time to actually go to the bathroom.
So, Daddy started showing him how to go potty like a big boy. He knows to push a stool over to it, lift the lid and try to go. Now, every time we take his diaper off and ask him if he wants to go potty, he runs to the big potty.
Grant it, sometimes it's just to stand there and marvel at the fact that he is standing on a stool without a diaper on, but he has actually used the big potty a few times now. We praise him, do a happy dance and clap most uncontrollably to show him how proud we are of him.
It's sometimes funny to see him go to the bathroom, use the potty and start to get down off the stool. I'll ask him if he's done and he would say "no" and turn right back around and go again!
I am fearful that I am setting myself up for disaster though, because he skipped the little potty altogether. Or, am I just over-thinking it?
Whenever we ask him if he needs to go potty, he has replied several times with "no." So, I think he may be getting the hang of it. If he says "no," then there is no way I am taking him in there to try. That would just make him mad, which may undo all that he has already learned.
He also has learned to close the lid — slams it down is more like it — and then wash his hands. He loves to wash his hands and giggles at all the bubbles we make. Which could be an added bonus to him going to the bathroom. Making the entire routine fun is sure to get him to go more often. Now, if I can just get him to set the lid down softly, we will be on the right track to our little boy growing up into a big boy.
I had mentioned before that our 19-month-old was continuously getting into the refrigerator whenever he wanted. He would get something out to eat or drink, or put stuff in it that didn't belong. I reached out to our readers to see if anyone else was going through the same thing — finding out that I was not alone in this situation.
Many responded that a latch was the best way to go. So, my husband and I went to Target and started to look for this latch. We couldn't find anything at first and were talking about how it may not be with the baby section. Another customer overheard us and asked if he could help. SURE! We told him what we were looking for and, would you believe it, he and his wife and their 18-month-old were standing right in front of all the safety gear to toddlerize the house. They were looking for the same thing!
So, we talked and debated over a few of the products and we both left with the latch for the fridge.
It works GREAT! However, it took some getting used to with the adults because we would forget and yank it right off when we opened the door.
When our little guy went to open the fridge door and found that he no longer could, he looked astonished. He proceeded to cry and smack the fridge door. He even grabbed a hold of the handle, picked his feet up off the floor and was dangling by it crying and desperately trying to open it. He even tried pulling the latch itself off the door. But, after a few more days, he finally gave in and has become accustomed to it as if it was supposed to be there.
There you have it. Problem solved! Now, moving on to the dog bowls.
It was a sad day for Middle Tennessee families when Opryland Theme Park closed permanently on Dec. 31, 1997. Granted, there were some tacky aspects to Opryland, but that was part of the charm. At least there was a theme park here in town. A place fun for families to spend a day.
For years, a lot of folks in these parts, myself included, have whined, wailed, moaned and groaned about how this city needs another theme park ... not only for fun entertainment, but the economical advantages it would bring back to our city.
Well, whine and cry no more! It was so exciting that the great Dolly Parton was in town last month during her 66th birthday, and spent a bit of it making headlines when she announced her Dollywood Company is teaming up with Gaylord Opryland to open a $50 million, 114-acre water and snow park — the first of its kind — here in Nashville, located adjacent to the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.
Boasting high-energy water activities during the summer months, and snow activities during cold weather months, you can bet that with Dolly’s involvement, it’s gonna rock! She undoubtedly knows how to entertain like no one else. Now, the hard part is going to be exercising patience as the park’s opening is slated for spring 2014 (groundbreaking is due later this year or beginning of 2013), but it sure is nice to have something so great and exciting to look forward to.
What’s more, the two entities are putting their heads together to bring live entertainment to the fold. “I’m so excited about this opportunity,” says Dolly. “We’re all working on new types of entertainment to do in the daytime and nighttime for the whole family.”
So, thank you, Dolly for coming to the rescue and bringing something big and grand back to Nashville. We’ve all been desperately chomping at the bit since 1998!
Lately, our 5-year-old has been crying for either me or her daddy to come and "visit" with her when it's time for bed. This "visit" is her feeble attempt to get one of us to lie down with her until she goes to sleep. It is also AFTER we have done the entire bedtime routine: teeth brushing, cleaning up, jammies on and stories read.
We leave her room and find her crying her way back into our arms within just a few moments. She says, "My brain is making me think scary thoughts" or "I had a bad dream." OK, we have only been out of sight for no more than 10 minutes. She has not fallen asleep. I know what this is. It's me when I was little.
I remember that age. I always jumped onto my bed with no less than a foot of floor between my starting point and the edge of the bed, because, as we all know, monsters can't grab you if you are more than a foot away from your bed. I never looked under the bed, always had the door closed, but I slept in complete darkness. Any light coming through always bothered me and I couldn't sleep. But, aside from that, I always monster proofed my room.
So, this may be the start of that for my daughter. She has recently started asking me to close her closet door, leave the door wide open and the bathroom light on. We have convinced her that we can't have all the lights in the house on. We haven't been lying down with her, but we would go "visit" with her until she felt confident enough to go to sleep. But, it was last night that I made my stand.
She came running and screaming from her room like someone crawled out from under her bed. Daddy had already threatened to turn her night-light off the next time she got out of bed, so as soon as he stood up to see what was the matter, she ran back to her room screaming for him not to turn it off. I decided to go have a talk with her.
I calmed her down and asked her what was the matter. Same as the usual, scared of sleeping by herself and afraid of the dark. I explained to her that she has more light in her room than that of her baby brother and she had nothing to worry about. It was plenty bright in her room. Then a thought came to me. She loves princesses. So, here's what I said:
"Princesses are very brave. When they were little girls, they were afraid of the evil queens. But, they were strong and brave and grew up. How else do you think they were able to defeat the evil queens? You are going to grow up and be brave like a princess, right? So you can sleep in your own bed like the princesses did, right?"
She agreed. She rolled over and started to close her eyes to go to sleep.
So, the idea that finally came to me should have come a lot sooner. I now know that I need to take topics/items that she is accustomed to and use that to my advantage. It will help her understand things a little more clearly, too. I finally convinced her that bedtime needs bravery, and that's the stuff princesses are made of. Let us just hope that she can do the same hence forth.
My 5-year-old is doing well in Kindergarten. I couldn't be more proud of her. She loves to do homework and play little math and reading games. She is getting a good grasp on the sight words they have been working on as well as the sounds the letters make. It's when we start reading books that are sent home with her that she starts losing interest.
She loves her teacher and listens well. She loves to play "class" at home and pretend to teach her class of teddy bears, dolls and barbies. When it's time to read the kindergarten level books, she loses interest very quickly. She rolls her eyes and does not want to try. Oh, but if I say the teacher said I was supposed to work with her on this book, she is all for it. If she knows it's just me reading any other book just for fun, she wants to pick it out because she said the books from school are boring.
I did find a way to get her to read the books from school and like doing it — reading to her brother. I told her that her little brother wanted to hear a story and that he would love it if she read it to him. He does like to sit right beside her and see the pages, too. However, sometimes he likes to roam around the living room while she reads. There are some reasons why sometimes having her read to her 19-month-old brother is not a good idea. Case in point, see this video of her reading a book from school for only the second time. The video is funny, and I am so proud of her. I am just amazed at what she has learned so far from her teacher.
If siblings want to listen, it's good to have your child read to them. BUT, if all they want to do is joke around and play, I think it's best to just separate them while reading time is in progress. Looks like I am going to have to let the little guy pick out his own book for me to read to him while sister reads to herself. I just hope she can get through it without giving up and saying that it's boring. I remember having to read boring stories in elementary ... and I got in lots of trouble because I didn't read the books I was told to read. I now know the importance of the simple books, but I didn't when I was little. This is something I must have a little sit-down chat with my kindergartener about.
I tell her often that she is learning so much so fast with her teacher that when she reads a book by herself, it just shows how smart she is getting. That makes her happy. So, I praise and encourage ... very often. After she is done reading her school book, I tell her that she can pick out any book from our own little library and I will read it to her. Sometimes she likes to point out all the words that she knows from the lessons in school. Her vocabulary is growing rapidly and I thank her teacher for that, too!
When my daughter was little, I gave her baby dolls because I loved playing with dolls when I was a little. I'd play for hours with my "babies," then for hours with my Barbies when I got a little older, creating huge mansions for them throughout my entire room. If American Girl dolls had have been around when I was a little, I would have been thrilled to indulge in all of that primping and hugging, dressing and decorating.
Alas, my girl didn't play with dolls! I gave her one of those newborn ones ... but it might as well have been mine. I gave her that uber popular Amazing Ally one year (searched everywhere, desperate for it one Christmas), but she was quickly abandoned. I gave her American Girls dolls, but they would sit there in my daughter's room, often tossed aside, faces down, dresses off. At some point, unable to bear it, I'd set them right again, dressing and setting them up just so in their American Girl scenes, hoping it would catch on for my girl, but it never did. Today that delightful collection of dolls, furniture, clothing and accessories are stored in our attic ... waiting ... for the next girl who comes one day ... who loves dolls ... or doesn't.
Was something wrong with my daughter? No.
Was I making the mistake of thinking that because I loved dolls she would too? Yes.
Is there a correlation between a mom who loved to play with dolls and the daughter she raises up? Maybe.
Is there a correlation between NOT playing with dolls and growing up into a sweet, nurturing and loving girl? No.
Playing with or not playing with dolls has nothing to do with it. My did-not-play-with-dolls daughter is a rubgy player. She's also the sweetest, kindest and most loving girl I know.
Raising her, all we did was to support the things she was interested in and provide her unconditional love. I helped her navigate the prickly patch of adolescence that included questionable boyfriends, mean girls and an attempt to abandon her integrity, but we faced off enough to get her flying straight again. She would hole up in her room just like I did when things got difficult with my parents, and her room became her haven. Remembering how much I had loved my room, we told her she could do anything she wanted with her space, decorating wise, to express herself.
Now comes a new book calledGirl Land by Caitlin Flanagan (Reagan Arthur; $25.99) which delves into the miraculous way in which girls become women; the intense period of adolescence when girls begin experimenting with their independence, who they are exactly and their burgeoning sexuality. The need girls have to figure out who they are, on their own, in their own private way.
As a teen, I wrote my way to who I am. I'd hole up to scribble down the things I was thinking, make sense of the hard stuff I was going through with my parents, siblings, boyfriends and girlfriends, and always, always what I was feeling about everything. My bedroom was my sanctuary and it is absolutely there, in that private personal place, where I learned who I was. I too was allowed to make my room my own and I did so, with posters on the wall, the curtains I wanted, a special vanity I received one Christmas. I'd play the music I wanted, sing into a pretend mic, watch myself dance. It was here where I became an individual.
In Girl Land, Flanagan says parents would do well to preserve their daughter's bedrooms WITHOUT the Internet, so girls can do the necessary growing up and self realizing without all of that outside noise and imagery the Internet brings. Girls today may not like that idea, but try letting them have their own space to decorate, try putting a diary in there, music ... just not their Smart phone or Internet access.
The walls of my daughter's room are an art piece in and of themselves. There is hardly an inch of wall space that shows between all of the things she expressed herself with as she created it. It is one gigantic 3 dimensional collage of what she loves ... posters and photos, yes, but also letters, candy wrappers, framed art, flags, momentos, funny emails, giant letters spelling words made out of tin foil ... it gives her tremendous pride and joy ... and I think that's where she came from.
Give girls a place of their own to grow in ... even if it's just a tiny closet ... especially as adolescence approaches. Parents can do them a marvelous favor by insisting that space be unplugged. It should be meant for the necessary, individual work that becoming a unique, caring and wonderful young woman entails.
I know that I get frustrated really easy. So, it has been a very hard journey for me to learn how to control that frustration when reading with my 5-year-old. Don't get me wrong, it's great that we do this. It's when she decides to just give up when she gets to a word she doesn't know that I start to get frustrated.
Case in point. The other day, she wanted me to read her a few books. Something we do nearly every day with her — being myself or her father. So, I decided to change it up. I told her that I was so excited for reading time that day because I wanted her to read to me. I was very enthusiastic about it and she went along with it ... at first. I chose a very simple and easy-to-read book and asked her to please read it to me. She read the cover, then the title page — even telling me that it was the title page and that her teacher had taught her that — but it was at the first full page when she gave up. She is good about sounding out the letters until she gets the word out, but the word "snowflakes" was really long and she said she was done and that it was time to play "class." She didn't even try to sound it out. I told her I would say the word and she could continue. Nope! That's not gonna work this time.
Frustration sets in with myself and her. I asked her to please try to read the book to me and that I would help her with any of the words she has trouble with. That did not even come close to making her change her mind. She didn't even want to try to read another book. I don't know what I did wrong that day, but she wanted no part in reading a book by herself. She just kept changing the subject. Every time I asked her to just try again, she told me that I never do anything she wants to do. What!? Really!? I did not show her how frustrated I was, I simply told her that when she decided to play nice, I would come back and play with her. Then Daddy steps up and goes to have a talk with her.
He brings up an example of not giving up: Soul Surfer. She has seen the commercials for it so many times that she pretty much knew what it was about. The little girl surfer was attacked by a shark and she lost her entire arm. He told her that she never gave up and for that reason, she was still surfing today. That is why she is to never give up on anything ... even reading. After that little talk, she came back to me and just asked that we play "class" and not read books. I told her that was fine, but we will try again.
I will try again. TRY, try and try until she begins to understand that it's fun to read, not just being read to.
While enjoying a wonderful evening at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center last night during the Nashville Symphony's Wicked Divas pops series concert, I was greatly reminded of the magic that music possesses. Whether it's a beautiful classical piece, a bouncy pop ditty or an emotional torch song, is there anything else really except for music that wields such emotional power?
I've always loved music of most genres (not a fan of metal, rap or hip hop), but everything else I connect to one way or another. It's funny how my mood dictates what I will listen to at any given moment, whether driving in the car running errands or out at the park doing my daily running routine. And I can always find just the right thing to sate my emotional state of mind. If I'm in a really great mood, I know the roster of happy music that I will enjoy the most, and if I'm angst ridden for any reason, I know what I'll reach for just the same.
At the Wicked Divas show, though, it really struck me as to why I've always loved theater songs. They tell stories, and some pretty amazing ones at that. It was a great treat to hear two wonderful Broadway veterans belting memorable songs from a collection of shows — both classic and contemporary — that stand the test of time. Even the tunes the symphony played without singers struck emotional chords just because of the sheer majesty of a live orchestra. And that's something that anyone of any age can enjoy and experience in his own way on his own journey.
Although the symphony does offer its Pied Piper series for kids a few times a year, and those are WONDERFUL events, especially for the littlest ones in your clan, taking children to the "adult" shows so to speak is, in my opinion, an even greater, grander experience. Music knows no age boundaries, and giving kids opportunities to experience it live can only enrich their overall sense of being.
