Comittment

Yesterday we received a phone call from Jessica's violin teacher, Mrs Cordero. It turns out that Jessie had missed 3 orchestra lessons and hadn't even received the music for the christmas concert yet. Her teacher was concerned she was falling behind. When Jessie came home from school I asked her what was happening. At first she said that she just forgot her violin, but I know my daughter well enough to know when there's more to it than that. She started to cry and confessed that she didn't want to play anymore. I hate it when my kids start to cry. My heart aches for them and I want to make them feel better, but this time I knew I was going to have to do something that wouldn't be popular. We have a school instrument for her. I pointed out to her that she could have prevented another student from learning violin this year because she had a school instrument. I also discussed comittment and how she had made a decision earlier in the year, had us fill out paperwork to get her instrument and now after playing for 2 years she wanted to stop. I told her no. I talked about when you start something, you need to finish it. When I was done giving her advice, I realised that it was great advice for myself too. Always finish what you begin. Lecture done!