Throwback to that time when Brian and I didn't have any kids....when we could take selfies and pictures of ourselves (and man, we looked good!). Back before my Facebook albums were filled with pictures of babies and kid activities and crafts. Back when Brian would say, "Hey, let's go on a date." And I was like "Where and when?" And he was like, "Anywhere and anytime!" Those were the days.
Today was Day Four of Kindergarten. Drop-off is getting much better and so is pick-up. She still claims she doesn't want to go to school, but doesn't throw a fit or fuss much when I drop her off. I still walk in with her to drop her off in the cafeteria, and I walk to the sidewalk to pick her up (instead of waiting in the car with a screaming baby). I am definitely "living for the weekend". Maybe Lydia will sleep in?
The afternoons are a little long and slow for Lydia. She wants to keep active so she doesn't drift off to sleep. We would go and swim, but today we didn't. I "played" (aka sat and talked to her) in her room this afternoon, but that just wasn't enough. She wanted Daddy to play ball outside (it's like 100 degrees outside), or someone to constantly be entertaining her. She even admitted that she was worried about falling asleep.
But, she's usually in a good mood in the evenings. After dinner, she will take a bath or shower, we'll read books, sing songs and then both kiddos are in bed and asleep before 7:30. Nice.
This morning Brian and I woke up tired! I had a hard time falling asleep last night - lots to think about - and Lydia woke Brian up three times during the night to be tucked in. Plus, Gideon woke up around midnight (he never wakes that early) and again at 4:00. I took him to bed with me at 4 - because he was on his back when I went to get him. Which means he managed to roll over...uhoh. New milestones are always fun, except when they interrupt good sleeping habits! Thankfully he went right to sleep in bed, cuddled up against me. Of course, when Brian got up and started moving around the room, Gideon decided it was a good time to wake up, too.
Everyone in the Pfeiffer house was up by 6:30 this morning. Lydia came in asking to watch her iPad, Gideon was awake talking to himself in bed, Brian was up and dressed and about to leave for work, and I needed to take a shower and get ready for preschool pictures. Thankfully Gideon was very content in my bed and then in his bouncer while I got ready. He was even good when I got Lydia ready and we were able to leave for the preschool a little after 8:15, which was my goal! Go me!
Lydia loved seeing all the teachers at the preschool and giving hugs to everyone. And she loved showing Baby Gideon off. After pictures (I just get a teacher picture) we headed home. I sent Lydia off to relax in her room (since she had gotten up so early, gone to bed late, and then woken up several times during the night) while I attempted to put Gideon down for a nap. This boy! He is so tired but won't fall asleep when you want him to! I ended up putting him in his crib (after rocking him for about 45 minutes), put a pacifier in his mouth (which he usually doesn't need), and patted his back until he fell asleep (took about 5 minutes). Then he slept and slept and slept!
Lydia and I had an early lunch around 11:00, then I started packing up and getting ready for Six Flags! I ended up having to wake Gideon up for us to leave around noon. We met up with Leah, Adah and Jaron and headed up to the water park. The kiddie area is up a ton of stairs (or ramps for us stroller-pushers) and we were super hot by the time we made it to the top. Lydia loves, loves, loves the water park at Six Flags. She got almost brave enough to go in the playground area and almost went down one of the water slides. But, she didn't quite manage that just yet. My mom joined us with Abram and the three kiddos had a blast playing together.
Gideon was really good. He liked the water for awhile but then got tired and took a super long nap. Then we played in the water again. When we got back from Six Flags, he was the only one in a super happy mood! I had a headache from the heat (the long walk to the car - pushing a stroller - wore me out) and Lydia was completely worn out. Daddy made a quick dinner of spaghetti and we watched a silly Tarzan movie (not the Disney one).
Lydia and Gideon had a quick shower and then went right to bed. Hopefully both of them will sleep all night long and give us a good nights sleep as well!
Gideon is 3 Months Old!
How did this happen? Where did my teensy tiny baby go? The months are going by way too quickly for me!
At 3 Months:
you smile at people a lot. Although you are usually pretty serious (you seem to analyze everything), your silly side comes out every once in awhile. I love your precious, gummy smiles! I have even gotten you to laugh - not belly laughs yet, but some giggles.
you love looking at your hands and feet. You often put your hands together and stare at them. You have started grabbing your feet. And you like to suck and chew on your fingers.
you are very easy-going. Nothing like your sister. You are a go-with-the-flow type of guy. You are up for anything. You will nap anywhere and love looking around while shopping or walking around.
you don't like the car seat. You will cry and cry as soon as the car stops. But, once it starts going again, you are perfectly happy. This makes Sonic trips tricky.
you love being held! As long as someone is holding you, you are perfectly content. Lydia used to only like it when I held her, but you enjoy everyone!
you can hold your head really steady and look around, even when being worn in the K'Tan. You love to stand and sit. When you lay on the ground (whether your tummy or back) you can move around. You are always in a different spot in your crib than where I put you.
you love the airplane mobile we have hanging above your bed. I can put you in your crib and you will stare at those airplanes for the longest time.
you love getting dressed. Good thing, too, because I love dressing you up! You don't like lotion being put on, though!
you love your big sister! Most babies cry when little kids hold them, but not you! You love it when Lydia holds you and plays with you. Sometimes she can be a little overwhelming, but you usually smile and grab at her.
you are a great nurser. You love to eat all. the. time. Whenever you get fussy, I just start nursing and you love it. Sometimes you have a big meal, and sometimes you have a little snack.
you are a great sleeper! Although it can be tough putting you down for a nap, you will sleep most of the night in your crib. Usually you sleep from about 7:30 to 3 or 4 and then until 6:30 or 7:30. A big difference from your sister who was a terrible sleeper (but a great napper...hmm..)!
we all think you look just like Daddy!
I forgot to take a 3 month picture...but hopefully will remember tomorrow!
Missed Friday's post...oh well. I spent most of the day at my parent's house swimming. Then Brian went to work a Casino Night (his co-teacher's side business), so I stayed and had dinner with my parents.
Saturday we headed out to Guadalupe State Park. We have been there at least once a year since before Lydia was born. The girls loved the water - it wasn't too cold and only had a slight current. It rained Saturday morning (it POURED), but then the weather was perfect the rest of the day. We brought our large canopy to sit under, tons of food and drinks, and stayed for 7 hours! It was super crowded, but the crowds left as it got later and later.
Sunday, our church had no running water (it's building a new sanctuary), so nursery classes were cancelled. Which meant I didn't have to work my last day in the nursery - sweet. My mom, Lydia, Gideon and I tried out the Baptist church around the corner (the same church I have my piano recitals in and know two families). Lydia did really well in her class and Gideon got to go to the nursery. It was a nice service - completely different than Oak Hills. Very welcoming and small.
Yesterday I cleaned out Lydia's drawers and organized her dresses. Then we picked out five outfits for the week (undies and undershorts included). We are practicing for when school starts. I don't want to fight the clothes battle every single morning. I also don't want to fight the hair battle. I forgot to have her pick out a hairstyle last night, so we had a mini fit this morning, but she got over it. I got up when Brian did (around 6:45). Gideon was up by 6:50 and Lydia was up by 7:00. We went on a walk with Leah, Adah and Jaron around 7:45 and then headed off to HEB by 9:30. We were back by 10:30, headed off to The Rim to pick up bows I ordered for Lydia (with her monogram) at 11:30 and then to Chick-fil-A for lunch with Leah. Busy morning.
Now I'm getting frustrated putting Gideon down for a nap. He's super tired, and will fall asleep right when I start nursing him. But as soon as I lay him down, he wakes up! Ahh! Lydia just headed over to my parent's house to swim, saying she's "giving me a break". I left Gideon in his crib to fall asleep on his own...we will see if it works. I will probably break down soon and bounce him in his bouncer.
Meal Planning Monday
1. Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps I promise I will actually make these this week! They are Brian's favorite, so I am going to make them tonight for his back-to-work dinner. They just are a lot of prep - you have to marinate the chicken...and I have to remember to do that!
2. Lasagna Another recipe I didn't make last week. I went to make it last night and I realized I had forgotten the ricotta cheese! Oops. Got the ricotta cheese today at HEB, so this will be an easy meal later this week.
3. Grilled Chicken
Brian has some chicken quarters he wants to grill at some point this week. Yummy!
Another new recipe we will try this week. I always love macaroni and cheese, but it's never Brian's favorite (he has to have meat). So maybe this will work. I will use Velveeta instead of the shredded cheese - I think it works better and tastes better.
Music Monday
A Thousand Years by Christina Perri (performed by The Piano Guys)
I had to put the Piano Guys video of this song, because I saw them in concert and they played this song. And I bought their piano book and I love to play this song (and am impressed with myself that I can actually play it - a little slower than they do, though).
This is another song that I listened to a lot during my struggle to get pregnant. It really spoke to me, especially after I found out I was finally pregnant. I was always, always hopeful that God would give me another baby. I didn't know why He was letting me struggle (and I still don't fully understand the reason). But, this song, and many others, helped me through my struggle.
"How to be brave? How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?
....One step closer"
I eventually stopped being hopeful. Why continue to have hope when my hopes were dashed every single month for 24 months? That's a long time to be hopeful. Plus, I was afraid to have fertility treatment. What if it didn't work? What if we spent all that money and did all those tests and tried everything we could...and it didn't work? But, if we didn't try, we would never know.
"I have died every day waiting for you Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more."
When I found out I was finally, finally, pregnant...this is how I felt. Like I had waited a thousand years for that positive test. But, I had loved this baby even before I was pregnant. And I will love this baby forever.
"All along I believed I would find you Time has brought your heart to me"
Even when I was afraid to hope and started having doubts, I couldn't help but know that one day I would have another child. God granted my wish and I have my beautiful Baby Gideon.
Throwback to June 25, 2007 (ish...not sure if that was the exact date, oops). The day Brian and I got engaged! Yeah! We met each other when I started working at Showplace movie theater in college. He had already been working there awhile and I felt very intimidated. This was my first job outside of taking care of children. I wasn't the best at selling concessions, or tickets, or adding up prices in my head, or counting out change. But I got the hang of it. And I really started enjoying hanging out with this guy.
The first time we hung out (not an official date) was when he took me disc golfing. That was the first and only time he ever did. I hated it! It was hot and I wasn't any good. But, I enjoyed being with him. We worked really well together at the movie theater and started dating in August of 2006. Less than a year later, we were engaged, and about 6 months after that, we were married!
Look how young, cute and skinny we were! I loved hanging out with Brian. He is truly my best friend. He tutored me in math while in college, while I tutored (or wrote his papers) him in English. We hung out all the time and never got tired of seeing each other. I am so thankful that I found this wonderful man to be my husband and the father of my children...and my forever friend!
Brian had planned on proposing after a hot air balloon ride. But, that morning it was too cloudy and windy, so the ride was delayed. When we finally got to go on the hot air balloon it was amazing! I would totally love to do it again.
I am, once again, not wearing anything interesting today. I am still in my pajamas...and so are Lydia and Gideon. Brian left this morning for an iPad training at school, but will be back around 12:30. Then we will head to my mom's house for some swimming - and I will probably join in today. Lydia swam in the pool for over two hours yesterday - straight! This girl would swim all day, every day if I let her.
Both kiddos slept really, really well last night. Gideon slept from about 7:45 to 6:00!! I brought him to bed with me, he talked and played for about 45 minutes and then fell back asleep until almost 9. I love that I have a snuggle-er and a great sleeper. Hopefully his sleep patterns will stay this way.
Anyway, instead of showing you a picture of my pjs....I will write about what life has been like lately.
For our birthday, my mom took all the girls out to Painting with a Twist. My mom had done this before, but none of the rest of has had. It was so much fun! The instructor was really nice and really good at showing what we were supposed to do. I like how we all painted the same picture, but everyone's turned out differently. (And, yes, I used a stencil for my Texas and still managed to mess it up!) Unfortunately, Painting with a Twist is addicting and I want to go again. Next time, I want to take Brian and do a couple's painting. That would be awesome.
The other day was National Twin Day! Leah and I have always been close and now we're even closer as we go through motherhood together. We have been walking in the mornings (most mornings anyway) with the kiddos and never run out of things to say to each other. We had fun when we worked together at the Home Care, and now we're enjoying time having play dates and get togethers. It's really fun watching our sweet kiddos grow up together!
We sold our red IKEA couch and bought a leather couch from an online garage sale on Facebook. We first bought the red couch when we moved into this house 4 years ago. I thought it was great - we could take the cover off it and wash it. Then Lydia got older, and we got a dog...and it was annoying washing the cover (takes forever to dry). And I envied my parent's and Leah's leather couches. So, I started searching and searching for one online. One evening I was randomly on the Facebook garage sale and saw this couch for only $125!!! What a steal! I was the first one to comment on it - sweet! Brian and my dad headed over the next day to take a look at it and it looked really great. Thankfully we were also able to sell our red couch right away - for $200! We made a profit. I like that this couch is smaller, too. The living room seems a lot bigger. Brian is working on building two side tables to go with the couch.
We didn't head to the Twins Days Festival this year. Since we both had babies under the age of one, we decided to stay home instead of taking them with us. My mom kept our hotel reservation until the last week in case we decided to go. Oh well. The festival is always a lot of fun, especially hanging out with Leah and my mom. Our favorite part of the festival is the research tents (we can make some good money) and the food trucks - yummy! We plan on going next year.
Lydia spends most of her days at my parent's pool. Thankfully they live just down the road (two houses down), so she can go over any time. My dad and Brian just added on the jumping deck and Lydia has had a blast jumping! She's getting braver and braver. She even swims under the water now. One day this girl may have to join a swim team!
Lydia usually doesn't like it when I play the piano. But, I got her to film me for a bit and she just started singing. I'm really impressed that she recognized the song...and she tries to stay in tune! Plus, when she missed the start of the verse the second time, she knew when to come in. Lydia constantly impresses me with her musical knowledge!
We have only a few more days with Daddy at home all the time. Brian heads back to school next week, and then the week after that, school starts! Just a few more days to have fun with Lydia before she is a Kindergartner!
Last night Adah spent the night. Lydia and Adah usually get along really, really well. And then there are times where they do not get along at all. Last night was one of those times where they played super well together! Yeah! They played and played before dinner, had dinner, played some more, had a bath, ate dessert and watched a show, and then they were ready for bed.
And that's when my glorious plan of having a sleep over came to an end - because there was no sleeping involved. I learned earlier (when I would have Adah over once a month) that I cannot just leave them in Lydia's bed alone and expect them to fall asleep. They will play. Lydia will fall asleep but Adah will bother her. Adah will fall asleep but Lydia will bother her. So, I sit in the room until they fall asleep. Shouldn't take too long...they had played all day and should be worn out. Wrong. Lydia fell asleep pretty quickly, but Adah managed to hold out for a long time (try over an hour). Finally, I got tired of sitting in the room, took Adah's stuffed animals from her, and left. About 10 minutes later, both girls were asleep.
But they weren't asleep for long. Lydia came into our room around 11:30 wanting to be tucked back in. Thankfully she didn't wake up Adah. Then, at 3:30 in the morning (in the morning), I hear playing around in Lydia's room. WHAT are they doing AWAKE?! I went in and they were just happily playing with Lydia's doll house. Lydia tells me, "Well, when I get up to play the sun always comes up." Yes...when she gets up around 6:30 the sun will come up soon...but not when you get up at 3:30! I had them get back in bed, sang them a song, and prayed they would sleep!
Of course I couldn't sleep because I just knew Gideon would wake up soon. And sure enough, at 4:30, he was awake and ready to nurse back to sleep. And while I was nursing, Lydia was up telling Brian that Adah was keeping her awake. Ugh! Thankfully, I didn't hear the girls again until about 7:30 when they asked to watch Lydia's iPad. And Gideon didn't get up until 8:30 - I finally managed to sleep in.
The girls played pretty well together this morning. We made pancakes and then I set up a water play area out on the porch for them (oops, haven't cleaned that up yet...). Leah was done running errands by 11, so we sent Adah back home and we went BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING!
It was a bittersweet trip to Wal-Mart this afternoon. We had Lydia's school supply list in hand and were ready to shop during tax-free weekend. I tried my best to get Lydia excited, but when she said, "I will be scared to go to school" I almost wanted to break down crying. We promised her a special present after her first week of school if drop off goes well and she's behaved in class. Daddy promised me a present after the first week of school if drop off goes well for me too (i.e. no crying!)! Lydia had fun picking out all the supplies and it was actually fun preparing for Kindergarten.
Part of me is looking forward to having her gone most of the day for five days a week, while the other part of me doesn't want to part with my baby. How do moms send off their babies to school ALL DAY LONG?! What will she do without me? I am most worried about drop off - if she starts crying I know I will start crying even more!
Enough about back to school - we still have 3 weeks. After Wal-Mart we headed over to SAM's club and renewed our membership. Then we had lunch and ordered our pictures for the frames over our couch. They turned out great! And it looks really good above our new leather couch!
Lydia rested this afternoon and I worked on putting pictures into frames. And we discussed getting two matching side tables (those things are expensive). Lydia woke up in an awful mood. Awful.
Then dinner rolled around and that was no fun. At. All. Lydia is turning into a teenager already and I'm not ready for it. I'm barely ready for a 5-year old! This girl has attitude and it's driving me crazy! And her Daddy gives in to her! I don't know what to do about her attitude. I try sending her to her room or ignoring it, but then Daddy steps in and feels bad for her and tries to "fix" the situation. Which usually ends up with Lydia getting her way when she shouldn't have. Oh well.
The kids are in bed. I need to pump and then head to bed myself.
We have a garage sale tomorrow with Marc and Keisha. I have a ton of baby boy clothes to sell, plus a few other things. We'll see how it goes.
This throwback isn't very long ago. It's to Tuesday, May 19, 2015. Gideon's birthday! Here's his birth story.
Gideon's birth story is nothing compared to Lydia's....but they way he was conceived (via IUI) is way more interesting than they way Lydia was conceived. So, basically, my kiddos like to come into this world with a little bit of drama.
I ate a ton of pineapple the weekend before Gideon's birth. Maybe that helped a little? I also went on several (slow) walks. Monday, the day before he was born, I was in the pool floating around and having the tiniest bit of contractions. I was really hoping and praying he'd come soon - it's hard work being 40 weeks pregnant! That evening I was up pretty late watching TV shows and keeping track of my contractions with a contraction app on my phone. They weren't really strong contractions, but they were really consistent. After awhile, the contractions were continuing but they weren't getting any stronger and stayed about the same distance apart. I gave up and decided to go to bed.
At 1:00 in the morning I woke up to a (what I thought) painful contraction. I started timing them again and they were very consistent. By 2:30, they were really strong and I had woken Brian up and had even started tearing up during contractions. By 3:00, we called my mom to have her come over and stay with Lydia and we started quickly packing my hospital bag (yeah, I hadn't packed it yet...oops...but Gideon's diaper bag was all packed). We left for the hospital around 3:30. My contractions were still really consistent and strong. Remember, I didn't know what contractions felt like as I had never experienced them before (I was induced with Lydia).
We got all signed in at the hospital and I was changed into a gown and laying in a bed in triage. My contractions were at the point where I couldn't talk during them, but I wasn't crying just yet. The doctor on duty came in and checked my dilation - I was just at 3 cm. Yeah! Leah had told me that they admit you at 3 cm. But...this doctor didn't want to do that just yet. Leah says it's because I wasn't in enough pain....ugh. Well, give me about 30 minutes and I was writhing in pain. Contractions hurt like crazy!
Finally my doctor arrived, checked me, and told me he was getting a room ready for me and the epidural was coming! Yeah! It took awhile to get to a room (that was torture) and once we were finally in there, it took awhile for the anesthesiologist to arrive. Also, the nurse who did my IV (I had tested positive for Group B Strep and needed meds) messed up the first IV in my left arm and had to redo it in my right - I hate needles! The epidural doctor finally arrived! Yeah! Man it was hard to sit still during contractions and not to react to the painful needle! But I did it. Brian got really woozy and had to sit down - silly boy.
Once the epidural was in and working I was perfectly happy. My baby would be here soon and I could just relax! We called my mom to check on Lydia and asked if my mom could come join us and bring Brian some food (that boy was hungry). By this time it's close to lunch (I told you they made me wait forever in triage and then it took forever to get a room). And the doctors are ready to deliver my baby.
Unfortunately, I was progressing pretty slowly, but they couldn't give me pitocin because Gideon's heart rate was constantly dropping and the drug would stress him out. I definitely didn't want a C-section (had miraculously avoided that with Lydia), but also wanted a healthy baby. The nurses kept changing my position until we found that if I laid on my left side, the baby was happy. This, of course, caused my left leg to be extremely numb! Finally, at about 3:20/3:30, I was 10 cm dilated and ready to deliver!
Gideon Amadeus Pfeiffer arrived at 3:58, weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs 9 oz , and was 21.5 inches long! My long awaited miracle baby had arrived!
Because of my super numb left leg, we were stuck in the delivery room for a long while - we had to wait until I could walk by myself before they would move me to recovery. Brian and I enjoyed quiet time with sweet Gideon (even though he pooped on me...twice). He nursed right away and was the perfect, sweetest baby!
We were finally moved into the recovery room and I was ready to eat and relax and hold my precious boy. Brian's parents came down to see their new grandchild, and Lydia came in to meet her new brother! Brian went home with Lydia and his parents, and my mom stayed with me during the night.
Despite the awful contractions (how do you mommas do it without drugs?!), the birth was pretty straight forward and easy. My recovery was super fast - I went to Lydia's preschool picnic that Friday! I am loving being a Mommy to two precious kiddos!
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.
