Finding Calm in the Chaos

by Mandee Mostrom

Wake up, make some coffee, get all three children off to school while making sure your youngest gets to daycare on time. Go to work... Shoot! Forgot the coffee! Quick stop at Smokey Row, then work.

After a stressful day at work, you spend an hour or more feeling like a taxi cab driver as you whiz your three oldest from school to practice to tutoring sessions and sporting events with a hungry toddler in the backseat... Forgot to put dinner in the crockpot.Looks like all you have time for is Chick-Fil-A before zooming off to guitar lessons with your two oldest while your spouse gets the youngest kiddos ready for bed. Enter Passion Studios. Inevitably, your teacher asks with a smile, "So. How was practice this week?"

You can't help but cringe as your children side eye you from their seats. "Mmm... okay..." they mutter under their breath, a little embarrassed.

Sound familiar?

We've all had those days, sometimes week when despite our best efforts at parenting, Life Coaching, and surviving, we still feel as though we're running around like blind horses at The Kentucky Derby, just trying to make it to that Friday finish line. We want to be able to hear our children proudly respond to the dreaded practice question with their heads held high, "It was great!!" Yet, somehow Monday turned into Wednesday, and you felt forced to cram the entire week's practice assignment into one night.

What if I told you it didn't have to be like this? What if I gave you the secret to finding fifteen minutes of calm amidst the chaos every single day? What if daily practice became something your entire family looked forward to? Is that even possible?

The teachers and staff at Passion Studios want to help make that possible and enjoyable for every single family that walks through our doors. The good news is that we have a few tricks up our sleeves that we think might help. Here are a few of them to try this month:

Find your why: I once worked for a sales company that really focused on finding your why. They taught me that if you don't have a tangible, thought out reason for a commitment, then why bother? The same goes for music lessons! Sit down with your child, your spouse, yourself, and remind yourselves why you signed up for lessons in the first place. (If you're having trouble finding your why, I encourage you to reread last month's blog post!)

Habit Stacking: The book, Atomic Habits by James Clear is an amazing guidebook to building new habits and breaking the old ones. I know you're short on time, so I'll get right to sharing his tip called "habit stacking." Basically, think of something you do every day already. For example, brushing your teeth. Then, you stack new habits immediately preceding or following your old, good habits. Maybe for you, that means right before you start bedtime routine for your seven year old, you spend 15 minutes at the piano. Essentially, your adding practice to your bedtime routine, making practice a calm part of an already calming process.

Take advantage of the "unplugged" time: As a parent, it can be easy to bend on your household "screen time" rules. Sometimes, that screen time is just what you need to have a minute to yourself. What if you flipped things around? Subtract 15 minutes of screen time from every day and replace it with 15 minutes of practice time. Maybe make something like this a norm in your house, "No Minecraft until after you log into Better Practice." I can't think of a better motivation for a kid than that!

Hopefully these tips can help you and your family find the joy in music once again! If you're still having trouble, talk to your student's teacher. You are on the same team! I know each of them, and I know they will do everything in their power to help make music practice a time of calm in the chaos of your family's every day life.