Some of you might remember this post from last summer where I talked a bit about our attempts to get into a consistent routine with Mariam's music practice. I promised an update, and so I thought that I would share the fact that Monday was Mariam's 100th day of practice in a row. It isn't a small thing, this playing of the violin every single day without fail for months. It took some serious dedication on both her part and mine, and I am admittedly a little bit proud that we managed to pull the whole thing off.
We started off practicing each morning, with an agreement that we didn't leave the house for any activity or event until practice was out of the way. Over time this evolved just slightly, and now we practice in the morning on days when we have an afterschool activity and on the weekends, and in the afternoons on the other days. Each time of day seems to have its own advantages, and I'm still sorting out which might be better in the long term. I'll admit that there were days where we were a few minutes late for school as a result of prioritizing violin above timeliness, and there were certainly days when either or both of us would have been happy to skip practice all together. But we didn't. Which is honestly kind of remarkable.
I was wary of promising any kind of reward for meeting the 100 day goal ahead of time; I wanted meeting the goal to be meaningful in and of itself. But, of course, when the day rolled around there was a celebration of sorts with a favorite dinner and ice cream sundaes with second helpings allowed. Also, I ordered her one of these mineral kits. If you have been hanging around this space for very long, you are probably aware that Mariam's love of minerals is wide and deep (as well as a little odd and hilarious, but we all like what we do, I suppose). It is definitely her idea of a fantastic present.
Okay, off I go then. Dan appears to be trying to give Mariam and introductory Latin lesson when he really should be doing homework and she should be getting in her pajamas. Apparently my new found skills as disciplinarian may be needed.
