I Need a Simplicity Coordinator...

I'm not sure how much I believe in astrology but I do feel very much like the Gemini I am.  I've always felt like the Gemini poster child and part of that is that I seem to be a lightning rod for irony.  Sometimes its big, scary irony but usually its just a constant stream of everyday little details that, when looked at thru the Gemini microscope, are ridiculous.

Take, for example, the fact that I'm signed up for a series of talks on Simplicity Parenting, but that those talks now conflict with Donovan's Suzuki piano group lessons.  And speaking of Simplicity Parenting, we got a flyer for the Steel City Earth Scouts and I'm thinking of signing Donny up.  Even tho his schedule would end up looking something like this:

MONDAY:
School, one hour session w/ Ms. Keely at home, practice piano

TUESDAY:
School, speech therapist visit at school, practice piano

WEDNESDAY:
School, hang out for an hour an a half with Mom before group piano lesson, Group Piano lesson.

THURSDAY:
School, visit with occupational therapist at school, one hour session w/ Ms. Keely at home, practice piano

FRIDAY:
School,  private lesson w/ Ms. Kiki

SATURDAY:
Earth Scouts first Saturday of every month, the occasional playdate and/or visit to museum/library/etc., practice piano.

SUNDAY:
Only day off with both Mom AND Dad, Church, Earth Scouts every 3rd Sunday, occasional visits to Grammy and Grandpop in Squirrel Hill, practice piano.

Is this what simplicity is supposed to look like?  The kid's not even 5 yet!

Drinking the Twinkle Kool Aid

Donovan had his first group lesson for piano last night.  He has been taking Suzuki lessons for about 5 weeks now and I will admit to it making me grumpy.  First, it took well over a year to get him on their schedule and, when we did, we were relegated to a 3:15 lesson, which was rough because he gets out of school at 3:30.  I felt the weekly newsletters left out valuable information (exactly when the parent meetings were and exactly how important they were considered), that sort of thing.  It did not help that the parent meeting I went to was out in Carnegie and while the bus service there was good it was a rainy day and the bus stop was literally right on the road, right where there was a puddle the car tires would hit as they sped by.  I ended up putting Donny in the corner and standing in front of him to keep him dry--I felt like there was a blue screen behind us and they would photoshop in a raging pterodactyl attack.

That's all changed now because I got to watch my son ENJOY HIMSELF COMPLETELY last night.  There were 3 other kids in the class and they sat in the front row with their parents behind them.  Donny was possibly the youngest kid and definitely the newest student--the other kids all had at least a year of lessons under their belts.  The class started with each kid playing a piece, bowing to applause and sitting back down.  This happened twice and the second time, Donovan sat down and played "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" all the way thru using both hands.

He had never done that before.

It was a major breakthrough that he played it all the way thru instead of stopping after each part but the two hand thing completely blew my mind: he saw the other boys do that and that was all he needed.  It was also great to see the pure joy on his face whenever he would clap for his classmates or when he would take a bow.

I'd been holding off writing the check because 1) its a big chunk of cash and 2) I wasn't sure it would work out.  Watch your mailbox, Pittsburgh Music Academy--the check is on its way!