Why has life been so busy the past couple of weeks??
It’s been a confluence of school, social commitments, volunteering, to-do lists, extra-curriculars, yard work, some Valentine hoopla thrown in there, and just…stuff.
All good things. But I’m kinda tired! And I don’t think it’s going to slow down anytime soon.
That said...I don’t want the exhaustion to prevent me from sharing a quick post about Chica’s very first violin solo “contest”—a milestone moment from last Saturday. :)
As a refresher: Chica’s been participating in an amazing 5th grade strings program through our elementary school.
She’s enjoyed the program so much that she’s even selected orchestra as one of her 6th grade electives (I can’t even; how have we already gotten to this point???) and is a happy camper to be continuing under the instruction of the amazing (and, frankly, overqualified!) Middle School orchestra director.
As part of this program, there was an opportunity last weekend for any of these beginning strings 5th graders to participate in a solo “contest” process.
It’s basically a situation where you practice a song (in this case, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”) and then perform alone in a room for a judge, and subsequently receive a ranking of Good, Excellent or Superior.
It was a completely optional contest, but Chica surprised me with her eagerness to participate. Woohoo! Go, bravery!
Now. I should probably clarify here that I’ve by no means been a pushy instrumental mother, thus far, ha. In fact, I’ve been quite hands off on this front; happy to let Chica’s interest develop organically and in a stress-free environment.
So she participates in the program, I rarely remember to have her practice at home, and she’s all smiles on the violin front—which is how I feel it should be at this stage!
Easy breezy. No stress; all joy.
So…I kind of had a moment the night before the contest where I was like: whoopsies; maybe I should have encouraged her to practice more? Ha.
So we worked through a little power session the night before and morning of. But I made sure to keep it all fun and no angst—until we made it to the middle school where the contest was being held, and Chica was thrown in a cafeteria with gaggles of anxious kiddos who were all stressing before their solos, ha. That’s type of buzzing stress is so unique and contagious!
All that said…I was SO proud of my girl for diligently trying her best, but not stressing to the point of a panic attack, ha. Her musical ability with the song was just the perfect type of adorable imperfection, in my personal opinion. I mean, for the love, these kiddos have only been using the bow with their instrument for about five weeks, now! ANYTHING they can produce that sounds like an official, on key note is magical to my ears.
Welp, I’m THRILLED to report that the judges for this process obviously felt the exact same way.
They were clearly determined to do their best to encourage, encourage, encourage these 5th graders to continue to pursue music without any negative associations, whatsoever.
As far as I could tell from the public scores that were posted along the walls after several waves of the contest, each and every kiddo received the highest score of Superior. And it was the greatest bit of JOY to see these nervous, self-conscious babies light up when they viewed their scores. The relief and delight was palpable!
There will be a time in the future when excellence and perfection might be the order of the day. But now is not that time (again, in my humble opinion).
It truly a marvelous mothering joy to see my girl participate in a musical endeavor that only gives her happy vibes, and I’ll do all I can to foster this kind of delight well into the future. :)
The smile on her face when she brought home her medal on Monday…ugh.
The smile on her face when she brought home her medal on Monday…ugh.
Happy, happy, joy, joy.
One final, related note: it’s just the most heart-warming thing to see Chica interact with kind, supportive, silly, studious, happy friends of hers who also participate in some of these events.
She’s developed a really lovely and diverse group of friends with zero drama, and that is an Amen, Halleluiah thing, in my book!
So…yay, for the challenge of new and nerve-wracking things that build confidence and character. I’m so proud of my girl for remaining open to new and varied experiences. It’s one of the things I admire the most about her. :)
More mañana, peeps!
Over and out.
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