Pumpkin Studs and Practicing

This past year I have shared some concerns I have had both with choosing an instrument for Pukey to study, and whether or not to get her ears pierced.

I never would have predicted that these two things would collide in our universe.

Shortly after I posted about piercing her ears at the tender age of 5 years old (or not), she decided that she was ready. We went to Claire's as a family and got her ears pierced the weekend before kindergarten started.

Though she had been practicing her instrument, the violin, all summer, the commencement of school meant getting really serious about practicing. We are now committing to practicing every day. YUP. Every single day. The school has a (probably cheesy) incentive program to complete 100 days of practicing before the 1st semester is up, which we are participating in, but more importantly is our own personal practice calender, filled with incentives.

Since Pukey is only 5, I can make things incentives that we are probably going to do anyway. For example, we were going to participate in our ward Camping Trip regardless, but I made that a prize after 3 solid weeks of practicing. She is young enough that I knew it would work, that we wouldn't NOT go. Actually, we ended up not going because of a flat tire, but that's beside the point.

Aside from those types of incentives (you get to go trick or treating, you get to celebrate Thanksgiving with your cousins, you get to open Chrismas presents ON Christmas), the next best thing has been earning EARRINGS.

The promise of a pair of pumpkin studs after 6 weeks of practicing was MORE than enough motivation to practice her violin every morning at 7 am. If she ever whined, I just reminded her of the earrings and it was like magic. She reached her goal today and I ended up getting her a 3-pack of Halloween earrings, and today she chose to wear the ghosts. While at Claires I picked up 2 multi-packs with about 9 or 12 pairs of little earrings on each one. My plan is to cut them up into individual pairs and stick them to her practice chart, maybe every 3 weeks. This is motivating her to no end. I actually think this may be sustainable for the entire school year.

So, the moral of my post is that bribery works! If I had waited to get her ears pierced at 10 or 12, I don't think one solitary pair of little stud earrings would be nearly as exciting to practice for, as it is at this age. Now, I just need to figure out what WILL be exciting then, for the upcoming practice charts... Ay ya ya.