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Note to self

I asked Amanda if she wanted to bring her violin on this year's vacation to see grandparents.  It can be fun to make music with cousins and it is good to keep up on practicing while traveling so you don't lose your progress. It also gives structure to the days which can sometimes be long and boring.

However, Amanda said that she had written a note to herself telling her not to bring her violin along.  I understand that, I make imaginary notes to myself all the time.  But then she got out her notebook and showed me a page on which she had written, "Note to future Amanda: Do not bring your violin on a vacation."  Not an imaginary note---there it was, in black and white.  So we didn't bring the violin this time.  I think future Amanda appreciated the foresight.

Poor Luke plays piano.  On the one hand, he absolutely cannot bring his instrument along with.  On the other hand, many places have pianos and then he can practice.  We are still working out when we make him practice and when we don't.  On the one hand, after Music Camp he complained that there had not been a piano to practice on.  When we went to VA for family vacation he enjoyed improvising and playing for family, but we didn't have music and he had lost some of his skills so that he stayed on his pieces for a few more weeks.  And this week he has a piano and music (thanks to his aunt and his grandmother) but he doesn't want to at least learn the music so he can move ahead at the next lesson. So we will see if the minimal sessions we do at least keep him from losing his skills.

(Luke complains that he is actually in the right and I am wrong, and I am making it sound biased in favor of my opinion.  I invite him to start his own blog and tell his own story about how mean and awful his mother is.  I will certainly read it.)

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