Gratitude

I constantly work at making sure that I have gratitude. Sometimes it is external--being sure I thank people I work with, thanking my kids for doing little things, thanking my husband when he makes dinner. Sometimes it is more of an internal or spiritual thing. On the rare occasion that I can walk alone, I always take a minute to appreciate the amazing view around the first corner of my walk. Taking a minute to appreciate the beautiful view, the buds on the trees that mean great weather will be coming soon, being thankful that I get a few minute of quiet in my busy life.

As a teacher and a parent, there is nothing better than seeing a child have gratitude. I have always said that I teach kids, I just do it through music. I want my students to show gratitude and be appreciative, especially because they are very lucky to live in the town they do, where they have so many opportunities. I take the time to make sure that I thank the accompanists, clinicians, and give props to other teachers, kids, administrators, etc, when I appreciate what they do. It is my hope that some of that rubs off on them.

I do the same thing at home, and it has been wonderful to see my kids show their gratitude. I have to still remind them to say "please" and "thank you" constantly, but they have these little glimmers of honest, pure gratitude that blow me away. Those moments remind me of my most important job of shaping these little ones into becoming great humans. My son, age 4, out of the blue thanked me for  his birthday party yesterday. He didn't see all of the planning and thoughts that went into it, but he realized even at his young age that it took work to do it, and took a moment to make sure that I knew he appreciated it. Moments like those make me feel like I'm the best mom in the world.