Christmas for Musicians

I've been a musician all my life.  And ever since I could play "O Come, Little Children," Christmas has been the busiest season of the year.  I married a professional musician (worse yet--a conductor!), so our married life as well has always revolved around rehearsals and performances.

Now our son has joined the ranks, and he too is learning the pleasures and pains of being a Christmas musician.  As soon as Thanksgiving is past (and sometimes before), the rehearsals and performances seem to multiply like proverbial rabbits.  

This time of year is so great for grandparents with video cameras, and so hard on young musicians.  There seem to be Christmas concerts at every school, church and the occasional run-out to a nursing home.  And if the youngster is in a youth orchestra or children's choir, it's busier yet.

A few words of advice (which I will try to follow!):

1) Cut some slack.  For us, since we homeschool, we are making the choice to back way off on the school work.  We a few specific assignments yet to finish, and when they're done, so are we.  If you can't cut back on school, perhaps you can on chores or other expectations.  

2) Allow practice times to include the extra music, rather than heaping it on after the normal work is done.  Lesson material may not be as well prepared, but your child will be!

3) Make sure Christmas has some fun down-time as well.  Even a few minutes outside making a snowman does more to fill love-cups and memory banks than you might imagine.  Take a little time and do something special.

4) Along with the fun down-time, be sure your child has some personal quiet time, or quiet time with Mommy.  Snuggles and softness may be more necessary after being in high-stress, exciting situations.

5) Allow for the late nights and the unusual schedules.  In the next few weeks, we have rehearsals almost every evening, and several of them will run late.  We'll be sleeping in, to compensate.  And try very hard to keep meals as regular, simple, and nourishing as possible.  Keep healthy snacks handy for those breaks between rehearsals and performances

6) Watch the health.  Sweets, lack of sleep, and being around lots of people mean lots of exposure to and breeding ground for germs.  Take extra care to give your child enough water, Vitamin C and other helpful supplements, and be proactive about any symptoms that do show up.

7) Expect more tension and irritability--and plan to be more patient and forgiving than you may normally.  It's a marvelous time of year, but very overwhelming.  

8) Use your "NO" card. Occasionally, you may need to turn something down, just because it's one too many.  If your daughter is part of a seven-performance run of Nutcracker, dragging her to a party the evening afterward may be one thing more than she can handle.

If we aren't aware of the toll the holidays take on our children (especially the performing ones), we will be surprised by what appears to be regression--collapsing into temper tantrums or sobbing heaps at the most inopportune times, grousing about things that they normally enjoy, sassing, whining, all those irritating habits we thought they had grown out of.  It's stress, overload, and under-rest.  Just being aware and taking a few precautions  will help the holidays be "merry and bright." 

Happy Holidays!

 

Comments

[Tanner Lovelace]

Both Janell and I seem to have found a good compromise with regards to Christmas music. Both of our respective groups (Duke Chapel Choir and the Durham Symphony Orchestra) have their annual Christmas concerts the first weekend in December. After that, we're pretty much done until the new year starts.