All These Facts and Opinions Look the Same. I Can't Tell Them Apart.

Tip Tuesday

Meal Planning during a busy schedule: I haven't been on here to do Meal Planning Mondays lately (writing a blog post every day is pretty hard!).  So, I will include meal planning in my Tip Tuesday.

Three days a week I teach piano until 6:00 (or 6:30 on Thursdays). So those three days I need to have a simple meal ready by the time I am finished. Sometimes this simple meal can be spaghetti - Brian and Lydia's favorite meal and a meal Brian can make all on his own. However, Brian struggles with the cooking-while-caring-for-a-baby thing. And I don't like hearing Gideon cry while I am teaching lessons. So....crockpot meals it is! This will be my third week having a different crockpot meal for three days out of the week. And most of them are pretty yummy. And super simple.

Sometimes there might be a dinner where Brian has to get the meal ready - like shredding the cooked chicken in the crockpot, or making rice in the rice cooker, or making some pasta. But really the meal is ready once I'm done with lessons without much effort from Brian. Which is a plus. I don't like expecting him to cook dinner right when he gets home, plus expecting him to watch both of the kids. On nights when I don't have piano lessons, he comes home and watches the kids so that I can make dinner. We have a pretty good routine going here.

Anyway....crockpot meals are a lifesaver for this family. I usually put the meal together between 2:30 and 3:00 and let it cook on high for 3 to 4 hours. The house smells yummy and dinner is ready when everyone is hungry. Unfortunately, some of these meals aren't as "kid friendly" as I would like them to be. So Lydia will end up eating mac and cheese or a lunchable (which she's always happy about). After teaching lessons I don't feel like fighting to get Lydia to eat something new. That's saved for days when I don't teach. Plus, I want her to eat quickly so that we can start our evening routine and head off to bed.

I have been getting my recent crockpot meals from Mix and Match Mama's Foodie Blog (http://www.mixandmatchmama.blogspot.com/). I have been following this blogger for awhile now (I actually watched the Bachelor when her brother was on) and she's so funny and interesting! I love her meals. They're healthy but super yummy. She has some great crockpot meals to choose from.

Our three crockpot meals this week are:

Mexican Beef over Cornbread (except not cornbread because Brian doesn't like it...over cheesy biscuits)

Slow Cooker Chicken (with pasta)

Chipotle Corn Chicken (over rice)

Crying Helps me Slow Down and Obsess Over the Weight of Life's Problems

Tip Tuesday

Once again, I don't have any tips today....I need tips! How to manage to keep this house clean throughout the week! Last week, the house stayed pretty clean. I made dinner almost every night, so the kitchen was constantly cleaned. I deep cleaned the house Sunday afternoon and it stayed pretty well picked up throughout the week - thanks to Brian and Lydia being gone during the day. Then the weekend came along and the house was a mess, again.

Sunday I cleaned the whole house, again, and it's already a mess - it got to be a mess before it was even cleaned 24 hours! I really need to make myself a weekly cleaning schedule and try to stick to it. I've done this before and I last about a week or two before I give up. 

It's important that the front of the house stays clean during piano lesson days. The front room, or the piano lesson room/dining room, is usually always picked up. We don't usually go in there during the day, except to eat dinner. It's the living room and kitchen that tend to get messy. Especially Lydia's craft/drawing table area. Lydia's room is always a disaster by the end of the week. Our room tends to get a little messy, too. Thankfully I can close all the bedroom doors during piano lessons - that's always a good way to hide a mess! But, Lydia's bathroom must be cleaned in case anyone needs to go potty. I also like the living room straightened and the kitchen cleaned in case they walk through those rooms, as well.

I love how my house feels when it's all super nice and cleaned. But I hate cleaning it!

I really need to figure out a cleaning schedule that works for me. Here's what my weekly schedule looks like:

Mondays: 

6:00-7:15 - get up, dressed, get kids up and dressed and ready for school

7:15-7:35 - get Lydia to school

7:35-8:30 - HEB trip, put groceries away

8:30-2:30 - Gideon should have at least 2 naps in this time frame, get chores done, run errands, straighten up the house, relax

2:30-3:00 - pick Lydia up from school

3:00-4:15 - hang out with Lydia and Gideon

4:15-5:30 - meet Brian somewhere for dinner before he goes to Grad school

5:30-7:30 - get kids home, bathed, watch a show, put to bed

Tuesdays:

6:00-7:15 - get up, dressed, get kids up and dressed and ready for school

7:15-7:35 - get Lydia to school

7:35-8:30 - go on a walk with Leah (until she starts Tuesday mornings...maybe just walk by myself)

8:30-12:30 - Gideon should take at least 2 naps, get chores done, run errands

12:30-1:30 - piano lessons for two homeschooled children

1:30-3:00 - Gideon maybe naps, go pick Lydia up from school

3:00-4:00 - make sure dinner is ready to either put in the oven or in the crockpot, hang out with Lydia

4:00-6:00 - piano lessons, Brian comes home at 5:00

6:00-7:30 - eat dinner, bathe kids, bedtime

Wednesdays:

6:00-7:15 - get up, dressed, get kids up and dressed and ready for school

7:15-7:35 - get Lydia to school, and Gideon to my mom's for BSF

7:35-12:45 - head to the preschool and teach Music

12:45-3:00 - get Gideon, hang out, pick up Lydia from school

3:00-7:30 - hang out with Lydia, get dinner ready, Brian is home at 6:00, eat dinner, get kids bathed and in bed

Thursdays:

6:00-7:15 - get up, dressed, get kids up and dressed and ready for school

7:15-7:35 - get Lydia to school

7:35-8:30 - walk with Leah

8:30-3:00 - Gideon should nap a few times, chores done, run errands, pick Lydia up from school

3:00-4:00 - hang out with Lydia, get dinner in the oven or the crockpot

4:00-6:30 - piano lessons, Brian home at 5:00

6:30-7:30 - dinner and baths and bed

Fridays:

6:00-7:15 - get up, dressed, get kids up and dressed and ready for school

7:15-7:35 - get Lydia to school

7:35-8:30 - walk with Leah

8:30-11:30 - try to get Gideon to nap, eat an early lunch

11:30-2:00 - piano lessons at homeschooler's house (5 kiddos)

2:00-4:00 - get Lydia from school, hang out, get dinner ready

4:00-6:00 - piano lessons, Brian home at 5:00

6:00-7:30 - eat dinner, bathe kiddos and in bed

So I actually do have lots of time in between stuff to get those chores done. I just have to make myself do them...and not laze around on the computer or my phone. Of course, I also like taking naps (which is what I meant to be doing right now...oops). Naps will especially be good on days I have piano lessons in the afternoon. My tired-waves usually hit around 3:30 or 4:00...right when piano lessons start!

She's Bluffing. She Cannot Reach The....

Tip Tuesday

I don't have any tips today. Today I need tips. How do I get Lydia to enjoy Kindergarten? I mean, can you really blame her for not wanting to go? She's been home with me for 5 years (and 99% of that time it was just her), she does everything with me, she's rarely away from me for an extended amount of time. And I just expect her to walk into a school building and hang out with people she doesn't know for 7 hours, 5 days a week! Of course she's scared, and nervous, and cries. Of course she says she doesn't want to go. That it's "boring". That the teacher is "mean". Of course she just wants to hang out at home with me and "be lazy". 

This is definitely a tough transition - for both of us. I know it's only the second day, but it's hard. This parenting thing is really, really hard.

Oh! Curse You and Your Tippitoe Tallness!

Tip Tuesday

This week we have started preparing for Lydia starting Kindergarten. I am really not looking forward to getting up at 6:00 every. single. morning....for the next, like, 20 years or so! Eek! This is definitely a new chapter in our lives - one that will continue when Gideon starts school, and then again when any other children we may have start school. Plus there's extra curricular activities before school, after school, on weekends! Wow! And I thought the terrible-twos (and threes, and fours) was difficult!

Here are my Tips for Getting Ready for Kindergarten!

• Talk About It: Last week we started talking and talking about getting ready for Kindergarten. We went school shopping as a family, packed up her backpack and have it in the living room. We talked about how we have to get up early and get ready, get dressed in appropriate school clothes, have our hair fixed and ready to go each morning. Lydia does really, really well when we talk a lot about a major change/big activity beforehand. When she finally got rid of the pacifier at 4-years old, we have talked and talked about throwing them all away the day of her birthday. Well, when that day came around, she handed us her pacifier and said she was four now and didn't need it. The same went with potty-training. We talked about it for several months before we actually started. And she was potty-trained in a week. So, all summer we have been talking about Kindergarten and how it is so much fun, how she will have a nice teacher, she will me new friends, play on the playground, etc. She loves talking about Kindergarten. She has said that she will be shy at first, but then she will have fun.
• Planning Outfits: Sunday afternoon I organized Lydia's closet and her dresser drawers. I got rid of clothes that we out of season, or that she didn't fit in anymore. I organized her dresses (she has a ton), moving dressed off to the side that were for cooler weather and keeping good, school, dresses toward the front. I then brought Lydia into her room and explained how we are going to pick outfits out for the whole week. I fought many a battle with Lydia about clothes during preschool (picking school-appropriate clothes, etc.) and I don't want to fight this battle everyday during Kindergarten. So, we picked out a dress for everyday, Monday thru Friday, plus undies and spandex shorts to go under the dress. She loved deciding what dress to choose. I hung the dresses (with panties and shorts on the hanger, too) off to the side, in order of the day. So far, (and it's only been two days), this has worked super well! She knows exactly what to wear and loves putting her outfit on.
• Planning Hair: I haven't quite done this yet, but plan to during the school week. Lydia is determined to grow her hair out long now. Earlier this year I cut her hair short (a little below the chin) because she kept screaming and crying when I brushed her hair and wouldn't let me do any cute hairstyles anymore. Now she wants to grow her hair out long again. So, our deal is that she has to let me brush her hair and fix it in different styles each morning - or I'm going to cut her hair really short. She doesn't want that to happen. So, yesterday and today I have done new hairstyles and she has really liked them. I am planning on picking out a few hairstyles online that she can choose from and deciding when to have those done each day next week. That way, I already know how I'm going to fix her hair, and she's prepared for the hairstyle (and had a voice in what her hair will look like). Hopefully simple pony-tail days will be few and far between. I have learned how to French braid and am getting better and better with cute hairstyles.
• Bedtime: Lydia is really, really good at convincing us to let her go to bed late. She will ask to watch another show, or be in the middle of a movie, or just take forever getting teeth brushed and pajamas on. So, we have decided that we will start getting ready at 7:00 and hopefully be done by 7:30. This way, if she wakes up between 6:00 and 6:30 she got 11 hours of sleep. I would really like it if she woke up between 6:30 and 7:00 - giving me plenty of time to get ready on my own each morning. I plan on getting up at 6:00 each morning with Brian, just in case the baby needs to nurse, and then Brian can help with the kids while I get ready. To practice this week, I have been getting up when Brian gets up...and letting Lydia get up then, too. I don't wake her up, but when she wakes up I let her stay up. Poor Gideon doesn't get to cuddle with me in bed anymore. This is getting all of us ready for early mornings next week.

Those are my tips on getting ready for Kindergarten to begin. Hopefully everything will go smoothly next week since we've already practiced our "routine"!

How Long Before This Kills Me? I Am Not in Control of My Extremities

Tip Tuesday: Summer Piano Lessons

I just finished updating and emailing my Fall Semester Piano Lesson Policies to all my students. I currently have 25 (possibly 26) students coming in the Fall! Amazing! To think that in the Fall of 2011 I started with about 6 students! My schedule is quite busy for the Fall. I have lessons Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 4:00 to 6:30, plus home-schooled kiddos in the mornings on Thursday and Friday.
I am so thankful for the opportunity to work and stay at home at the same time! I started piano lessons when Lydia was about 15 months old. I usually sent her off to Leah's house during lesson times until Brian came home and picked her up. But, by about 2 1/2 she was able to stay home with me during lessons (usually). She was good at napping for the first hour to two hours of lessons, and then either Brian was home or she would watch a show in her room. She has always been welcome to come out in the front room and be with me, as long as she is quiet. 

This will be a big transition having an infant during piano lessons. Thankfully my sister and mom live really close by so Gideon will be able to head over to their houses for a little bit before Brian gets home from work. Brian has grad school on Mondays, which is why I don't have piano lessons then. He will tutor his student on Wednesdays - another day with no piano lessons. All the other days he will be home by about 5:00. Lydia is home from school at about 3:00, I start piano lessons at 4:00, Brian is home at 5:00 and I am done at 6:30. Somehow we will work in dinner (I will have to get really creative with crockpot meals!).

Anyway, on to Tip Tuesday! This Tuesday I will write about how I plan for Summer Piano Lessons and how I go about teaching during the summer.

Growing up, I rarely took piano lessons in the summer due to us traveling. We were either moving, just arriving, or visiting family during the summer. I'm sure there were a few summers (especially when I was an advanced student) that I took. I do remember one summer in New York when my mom forgot me at lessons! I knew going into piano lessons that my student numbers in the summer would drop drastically than during the school year. I have always had a few students during the summer, which is just some extra money for us.

I have always limited my summer lessons down to ONE DAY a week. This way, I was done with lessons in one day (since I could teach from morning to evening) and could plan other fun activities the rest of the week. I believe my summer lessons have always been on a Monday and usually start around 10:00 in the morning and go until 6:00 in the evening (with a lunch break).

The only problem I ever had with teaching lessons over the summer was the money. For the first 3 years of teaching, I only charged for a lesson if the students came to that lesson. They would pay for each lesson of the month at the first of the month. If they missed a lesson, I would "roll-over" that payment to the next month. This worked out okay during the school year, but was really bad during the summer. Something always came up over the summer - summer camps, vacations, not wanting to come, etc. Last summer I think one month I had so many roll overs I barely made any money!

So, I changed my policies - partly because I was going into my 4th year and needed a change, and partly because of summer lessons. I now charge by the semester. I figure out how many weeks are in the semester, multiply that by the lesson price, and then divide that by the number of months in the semester. There are three semesters in my piano year - Summer, Fall and Spring. That way, I make the same amount of money each month despite holidays and missed lessons. I still do make-up lessons when I can. I have found that families are more committed to lessons when they have already paid for them. This really worked great this summer.

This summer I had eight piano students. Because of the Baby, I decided to set my schedule up with one hour breaks every hour. This ended up being my schedule:

10:30-11:00 (group lesson)

12:30-2:00 (a family of three)

3:00-3:30

5:00-6:00

Plus, I got paid the same amount each month by each student. This really helps with budgeting and knowing what I will be making over the summer. At the end of the Spring Semester, when I emailed about Summer lessons, I emphasized the importance of coming to each lesson and to only commit if they knew they would be there. This helped "weed" out the students who vacationed a lot, or just wanted a break from lessons for the Summer.

I definitely recommend a set price for each month during the semesters, with no roll-over lessons. This really makes parents and students commit and see me as a professional with an actual job/business (not just a hobby). I also recommend limiting the number of days during the summer. When I tell the parents I am only available on Mondays, that limits the spots. Why let them pick and choose the days they want over the summer? I don't want to have two students one day, one the next and three another. That would be annoying with planning outings and activities with family.