CONFESSIONS OF A MUSIC MOM: Moutain High, Valley Low

By: Mrs. Gray

If you have ever been on a journey, I am sure that you have learned that it' s not always a straight shot. But that there are winding roads, highs, and lows, and challenges are inevitable. Your child' s musical journey happens the same way. As your child progresses, you will find them on the mountain top, where everything is going their way. During these high moments, you will find that they are practicing independently and are easily grasping the information. However, there will be times, where your child will find themself in the valley. In the valley, things become challenging, and it takes extra effort for them to progress. During this time, your child can lose motivation, stop practicing on their own, and it may even seem as though they have lost interest altogether. What do you do when your child' s musical journey takes them from the mountain top to the valley low? One of the keys to our daughter ' s successful musical journey was to keep our eyes on the big picture. When we faced challenging moments, we would revisit our goals and look at the big picture, the " why " behind what she was doing. Doing this helped my daughter realize that the challenge she was facing would not last always and that she should not make a permanent decision based upon a temporary situation. So parents, make sure that your child understands the " why " behind what they are doing. This will help your child see beyond the immediate challenges and understand that challenges are all a part of the musical journey. They will begin to realize that as they overcome these challenges they get closer to achieving their goals! If I could be honest with you, this lesson wasn 't always easy for me to learn as a parent. Sometimes it just seemed easier to allow her to quit and move on to the next thing. However, when I began to see it transcend into other areas of my daughter ' s life outside of music, I began to see how valuable this principle was! She was learning to persevere through challenges, and that in itself was priceless!