making time for practicing

As a mommy, I find it so hard to practice at times. It really is depressing when I think about it - I used to practice at least four hours per day, and I loved it. I so miss that (not that I would trade being a mom...I'm just sayin'!). And while of course I don't expect to be able to practice that much, it can be so doable to practice every day! I think as a mom you just need to be creative.

practicing + being with this
little man 24/7 = tricky!
Luckily my little guy adores music. It's gotta be in his genes or something, because he just loves it. I turn on my ipod and he immediately starts dancing around (and oh man he's got the cutest, funkiest little dance moves around). He bobs his head to the beat, he sings. He dances around the room when we play the piano (my husband is a really talented pianist...he plays the third movement of Moonlight Sonata and my little boy LOVES it). 

So recently I made a fantastic discovery...when I play the piano, my son loves to listen to the piece and then tell me what he thinks it sounds like. The other day while he ate a snack, I was able to practice a bunch of tricky sections from some old repertoire. After each little section he would tell me what it sounded like - "Mommy, that sounds like a frog!"

If my son is playing with his trains, I'll say, "do we need some train music?" and thankfully he gets all excited and says, "Yeah!!" Awesome. I am then free to practice anything that slightly resembles the sound of a train. Car music is also a favorite. Scales are good car music. Haha. (I am gonna milk this for all it's worth, because who knows how long it will actually work!)

In fact, he now does it all by himself. The other day he walked up to the piano, played a little ditty, then said to me, "That sounds like a lion climbing through a forest!" 

How do you find time in your busy schedules to practice? How do those with kids make it work? Even if you don't have kids, it can be hard to be diligent and to fit it in. What are your secrets?? :)

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