Well she's at it again, our little cherubic nightmare. Almost every other night she's waking every one or two hours, for no reason other than seeming to need to be put back to bed. She gets no feeds, no drinks, no conversation, no nuffin and STILL she wakes. Some nights are fine, but last night was a kicker - awake at 2am, 3am, 5.15am, 6am, and then 6.30am. She is not sick (hallelujah and pass the potatoes).
We have come to the conclusion she's doing this because she is constantly whinging to be picked up during the day, so spends most of the time being carried around, on account of the fact she's not walking yet, at almost 18 months - I am not worried, just exhausted and frustrated. I'm so tired I can't think straight half the time. Apologies to those of you who have noticed, LOL!
Showing posts with label parenting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parenting. Show all posts
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Time management
I've just read Rhonda's post about Time Management over at Down to Earth.
I've really been struggling with this over the past few weeks. I think it's partly because for a few weeks I was feeling quite a lot of malaise bordering on depression. In the past day or two that has lifted, thank goodness. Shortly after her first birthday, we worked hard at addressing Lillian's nasty night-waking habits. Encouraged by a couple of visits to the GP, we had two nights of controlled crying to night-wean her, and they were really essential for my sanity, although I couldn't bear listening to her cry and so many times almost gave in. The extra unbroken sleep has made such a difference to the family. Unfortunately she's taken to waking at the crack of dawn, but I have some strategies up my sleeve to sort that out as well... there is always something!
Anyway, time management is often a bugbear. I am an organised person, but I often feel that I need to be more organised to fit in all the things that need doing and this is frustrating. Life's challenges vary according to the age of your children, and as we still have a little person who has two day sleeps and is still breastfed, there are only so many things I can do each day, and I just have to accept it - as do others.
I do believe in the maxim, "If you want something done, ask a busy person." But just how busy do we need to be? I am busy. Very busy. Sometimes I do not know where my time goes. These days I spend over an hour a day in the car just doing the school run. And I know we made the choice to school our son across town, but in Tassie terms that's only a 20 minute drive from home - although it feels interminable! And we do not regret our choice of school.
But apart from the school run, there's everything else to do around and for the home. I try and let Lillian have the two sleeps a day she still seems to need. I love that she still has two sleeps a day, but the poor little chicken only gets both of them at home if I don't go anywhere! Then there's work. I've been teaching again since the end of September, which has been a bit of a shock but now the dust has settled I feel completely energised by it.
Since I finished my commission, I have been busier than I possibly imagined - and the thought of another commission fills me with dread! How would I possibly get it done? Well, by not doing all the things I've been doing since I finished my commission, of course! Life has a way of sorting itself out and you juggle demands and take short-cuts when you need to, and do things the long way when you don't need to.
Anyway here is my take on Rhonda's Time Management post.
LISTS
Yes! I love lists. I cannot live without my Filofax. Yes, ancient technology, I know, but I do not have an iPhone yet and I like the tactility of writing my lists, jotting down my commitments. Lists are especially important when shopping. I still have nappy brain and when short on sleep, there is nothing worse than going to the supermarket and coming out with 20 things but forgetting the three that you actually went in for.
GET UP EARLY
Hmn. I don't really like doing this. I used to teach aural skills at 8.00am and thought that was tough. It was probably tougher on the students than me. But that was then and this is now and we have two children and so we rarely sleep in these days. At the moment, Lillian is enjoying the pre-dawn chorus. (I think there's a bird in a tree near her room whose days are numbered.) But seriously, getting up early does mean that your day starts with a gradual increase of activity and things just get done because that's what you do when you get up early. And when things get done, the whole house hums.
PLAN YOUR MENU
I always feel much more at ease when I know what we are going to have for dinner. It's just one less thing to think about when you're tired and the children are whingy at the end of the afternoon, and some small person is saying, "I'm STARVING. I'm so hungry I could eat three fridges." Oh yes. This only half an hour after he was last fed. I've been lagging with my meal plans lately, must improve.
DELEGATE
I'm not very good at doing this. I tend to think that things get done faster if I just do them. But it's important to let go, and so I'm trying to encourage the five-year-old to do little things like set the table, clear his plates, take his shoes off outside, bring me his lunchbox etc. Children enjoy some responsibility - and so do adults. If David wasn't catching the bus to and from work, he'd be making a few more trips for milk and bananas on the way home!
DO A BIT OF HOUSEWORK EVERY DAY
Even if I am running from early morning until night-time, I try to do this. It just makes life simpler. I am finding lately that I'm not having to do laundry every day, but when I do, it's generally a couple of fuller loads which save on power, water, and effort.
SAY NO TO TIME WASTERS
TV, computer, long phone conversations - sometimes you need some down time, but TV and the computer particularly tend to suck up the hours. Some days I only check email in the evening, as I literally haven't even set foot in my study. Sorry for anyone who has been emailing me and wondering why I'm so slack at replying! Or blogging, for that matter.
GIVE YOURSELF TIME
At this stage in my life, the only time to myself is when the baby is asleep and the five-year-old is at school. Or in the evening. But I do prefer to spend evenings companionably so time to myself is a rare commodity. I think it would be beneficial for my state of mind, particularly on weekends when there is someone else around to do a spot of child-minding.
STOCKPILE
I have been trying to do this, although storage is an issue. Buying in bulk works really well for families if you can manage it - cuts down on trips to the shops and you always have something in the Magic Cupboard, whether it's a tin of salmon for a quick dinner, or another box of tissues for when someone starts sneezing unexpectedly.
SAVING MORNING TIME
Make lunches the night before. Lay out clothing. Do some ironing and/or baking. Pack bags for the next day's school, activities or outings. Put on a load of laundry or nappies. I even went through a stage when I would put out the cereal bowls the night before. A little obsessive, but it worked at the time.
Thanks Rhonda. She always has such great common sense on her blog. Go and have a look, but don't waste too much time on the computer today. Think of all the other things you could be doing instead!
I've really been struggling with this over the past few weeks. I think it's partly because for a few weeks I was feeling quite a lot of malaise bordering on depression. In the past day or two that has lifted, thank goodness. Shortly after her first birthday, we worked hard at addressing Lillian's nasty night-waking habits. Encouraged by a couple of visits to the GP, we had two nights of controlled crying to night-wean her, and they were really essential for my sanity, although I couldn't bear listening to her cry and so many times almost gave in. The extra unbroken sleep has made such a difference to the family. Unfortunately she's taken to waking at the crack of dawn, but I have some strategies up my sleeve to sort that out as well... there is always something!
Anyway, time management is often a bugbear. I am an organised person, but I often feel that I need to be more organised to fit in all the things that need doing and this is frustrating. Life's challenges vary according to the age of your children, and as we still have a little person who has two day sleeps and is still breastfed, there are only so many things I can do each day, and I just have to accept it - as do others.
I do believe in the maxim, "If you want something done, ask a busy person." But just how busy do we need to be? I am busy. Very busy. Sometimes I do not know where my time goes. These days I spend over an hour a day in the car just doing the school run. And I know we made the choice to school our son across town, but in Tassie terms that's only a 20 minute drive from home - although it feels interminable! And we do not regret our choice of school.
But apart from the school run, there's everything else to do around and for the home. I try and let Lillian have the two sleeps a day she still seems to need. I love that she still has two sleeps a day, but the poor little chicken only gets both of them at home if I don't go anywhere! Then there's work. I've been teaching again since the end of September, which has been a bit of a shock but now the dust has settled I feel completely energised by it.
Since I finished my commission, I have been busier than I possibly imagined - and the thought of another commission fills me with dread! How would I possibly get it done? Well, by not doing all the things I've been doing since I finished my commission, of course! Life has a way of sorting itself out and you juggle demands and take short-cuts when you need to, and do things the long way when you don't need to.
Anyway here is my take on Rhonda's Time Management post.
LISTS
Yes! I love lists. I cannot live without my Filofax. Yes, ancient technology, I know, but I do not have an iPhone yet and I like the tactility of writing my lists, jotting down my commitments. Lists are especially important when shopping. I still have nappy brain and when short on sleep, there is nothing worse than going to the supermarket and coming out with 20 things but forgetting the three that you actually went in for.
GET UP EARLY
Hmn. I don't really like doing this. I used to teach aural skills at 8.00am and thought that was tough. It was probably tougher on the students than me. But that was then and this is now and we have two children and so we rarely sleep in these days. At the moment, Lillian is enjoying the pre-dawn chorus. (I think there's a bird in a tree near her room whose days are numbered.) But seriously, getting up early does mean that your day starts with a gradual increase of activity and things just get done because that's what you do when you get up early. And when things get done, the whole house hums.
PLAN YOUR MENU
I always feel much more at ease when I know what we are going to have for dinner. It's just one less thing to think about when you're tired and the children are whingy at the end of the afternoon, and some small person is saying, "I'm STARVING. I'm so hungry I could eat three fridges." Oh yes. This only half an hour after he was last fed. I've been lagging with my meal plans lately, must improve.
DELEGATE
I'm not very good at doing this. I tend to think that things get done faster if I just do them. But it's important to let go, and so I'm trying to encourage the five-year-old to do little things like set the table, clear his plates, take his shoes off outside, bring me his lunchbox etc. Children enjoy some responsibility - and so do adults. If David wasn't catching the bus to and from work, he'd be making a few more trips for milk and bananas on the way home!
DO A BIT OF HOUSEWORK EVERY DAY
Even if I am running from early morning until night-time, I try to do this. It just makes life simpler. I am finding lately that I'm not having to do laundry every day, but when I do, it's generally a couple of fuller loads which save on power, water, and effort.
SAY NO TO TIME WASTERS
TV, computer, long phone conversations - sometimes you need some down time, but TV and the computer particularly tend to suck up the hours. Some days I only check email in the evening, as I literally haven't even set foot in my study. Sorry for anyone who has been emailing me and wondering why I'm so slack at replying! Or blogging, for that matter.
GIVE YOURSELF TIME
At this stage in my life, the only time to myself is when the baby is asleep and the five-year-old is at school. Or in the evening. But I do prefer to spend evenings companionably so time to myself is a rare commodity. I think it would be beneficial for my state of mind, particularly on weekends when there is someone else around to do a spot of child-minding.
STOCKPILE
I have been trying to do this, although storage is an issue. Buying in bulk works really well for families if you can manage it - cuts down on trips to the shops and you always have something in the Magic Cupboard, whether it's a tin of salmon for a quick dinner, or another box of tissues for when someone starts sneezing unexpectedly.
SAVING MORNING TIME
Make lunches the night before. Lay out clothing. Do some ironing and/or baking. Pack bags for the next day's school, activities or outings. Put on a load of laundry or nappies. I even went through a stage when I would put out the cereal bowls the night before. A little obsessive, but it worked at the time.
Thanks Rhonda. She always has such great common sense on her blog. Go and have a look, but don't waste too much time on the computer today. Think of all the other things you could be doing instead!
Monday, August 18, 2008
A career path for composers
The TSO Australian Composers' School started today. I have been the co-ordinator of the school for the past two years, but this year my role was limited only to liaising with applicants and helping out with the selection process simply because I have been up to my ears with my piece and doing the Baby Thang.
Anyway, this morning I took Lillian along to the Welcome session, and we stayed to listen to part of Gerard Brophy's lecture which began by talking about a career path for composers. What? Yes, that's right, there really isn't one. I can't very well comment on the entire gist of the lecture because I had a small child on my lap who kept dropping her toy and trying to grab my lips with her hands, but Gerry touched on many topics including dealing with contracts, being necessarily concerned with earning a living to house, feed and clothe one's family, the fact that we are surrounded by music particularly in the iPod and movie-music generation, how some composers have been writing ringtones (I'm not sure if he was serious about this one) to earn some cash...
It's hard. In many ways being an academic is of course an easier option, and one that many composers choose to take simply because of the certainty of earning a salary. Theoretically, composers who work at a university have a fair degree of time in the week/year in which to write music, but in today's academic climate there are so many other things that need doing, you barely get any time to write music as part of your job and if you do, you're either lucky or determined not to be sunk into an administrative black hole. And of course, being an academic is never easy because getting a job in the first place is hard enough.
Anyway, I have to stop now. My baby won't stop crying even though she's supposed to be asleep, the washing is almost finished and I have to go and dig out some old yellow curtain material to make some duck feet for the four-year-old's Book Week costume for tomorrow, which I found out about, oh, 5 hours ago. Gee, being a composer is so romantic and productive.
Edited the nasty bits out on 27 August...
Anyway, this morning I took Lillian along to the Welcome session, and we stayed to listen to part of Gerard Brophy's lecture which began by talking about a career path for composers. What? Yes, that's right, there really isn't one. I can't very well comment on the entire gist of the lecture because I had a small child on my lap who kept dropping her toy and trying to grab my lips with her hands, but Gerry touched on many topics including dealing with contracts, being necessarily concerned with earning a living to house, feed and clothe one's family, the fact that we are surrounded by music particularly in the iPod and movie-music generation, how some composers have been writing ringtones (I'm not sure if he was serious about this one) to earn some cash...
It's hard. In many ways being an academic is of course an easier option, and one that many composers choose to take simply because of the certainty of earning a salary. Theoretically, composers who work at a university have a fair degree of time in the week/year in which to write music, but in today's academic climate there are so many other things that need doing, you barely get any time to write music as part of your job and if you do, you're either lucky or determined not to be sunk into an administrative black hole. And of course, being an academic is never easy because getting a job in the first place is hard enough.
Anyway, I have to stop now. My baby won't stop crying even though she's supposed to be asleep, the washing is almost finished and I have to go and dig out some old yellow curtain material to make some duck feet for the four-year-old's Book Week costume for tomorrow, which I found out about, oh, 5 hours ago. Gee, being a composer is so romantic and productive.
Edited the nasty bits out on 27 August...
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
And so we're well on the way, then...
Not.
Still the house of no sleep. Largely due to Miss Lillian developing a rather yucky cold. But progress is being made with reducing night feeds. And she has also very kindly shared her cold with me, so I'm sleepless and sneezy.
Trying to orchestrate and so far so good except it's so dull! I'm waiting for some flash of inspiration to imbue this piece with some flair and colour. Just kidding - sort of. Maybe you only get "dull" when you're so exhausted you can't think more creatively. But I keep thinking seconda prattica so that the text speaks more than the music.
Quite honestly I'm too tired to get all philosophical about it, I just need to make the deadline. That's all.
Still the house of no sleep. Largely due to Miss Lillian developing a rather yucky cold. But progress is being made with reducing night feeds. And she has also very kindly shared her cold with me, so I'm sleepless and sneezy.
Trying to orchestrate and so far so good except it's so dull! I'm waiting for some flash of inspiration to imbue this piece with some flair and colour. Just kidding - sort of. Maybe you only get "dull" when you're so exhausted you can't think more creatively. But I keep thinking seconda prattica so that the text speaks more than the music.
Quite honestly I'm too tired to get all philosophical about it, I just need to make the deadline. That's all.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
The crying game
Well we are doing a bit of controlled crying to try and solve the problem of our Wakeful Baby Girl. The time has come. We have become desperate.
I can't manage any more nights of 4-6 hours broken sleep, when she won't even go to sleep without a fight after a middle-of-the-night feed. I know it's 'normal' for babies to wake at night, but it has become a real problem for our family so we need to sort it out. What she has been doing is not normal for this baby. She is exhausted and irritable during the day because she's not sleeping well.
It doesn't mean that my heart isn't being ripped out and trampled on the carpet when she is crying.
I have finally managed to work out how to add a photo. Well, no, it's not that hard, but the stoopid internet wouldn't let me do it the previous times I have tried. Alexander is 4 yrs 9 months, Lillian is almost 9 months.
I can't manage any more nights of 4-6 hours broken sleep, when she won't even go to sleep without a fight after a middle-of-the-night feed. I know it's 'normal' for babies to wake at night, but it has become a real problem for our family so we need to sort it out. What she has been doing is not normal for this baby. She is exhausted and irritable during the day because she's not sleeping well.
It doesn't mean that my heart isn't being ripped out and trampled on the carpet when she is crying.
I have finally managed to work out how to add a photo. Well, no, it's not that hard, but the stoopid internet wouldn't let me do it the previous times I have tried. Alexander is 4 yrs 9 months, Lillian is almost 9 months.
Monday, April 28, 2008
That ol' chestnut - motherhood
This evening I had a surprise phone call from a good friend who recently took on a very full-time job in a town far away. We spent a little time catching up, as you do, talked about our children and other bits and pieces and she said, "So, are you teaching at the moment?" I patiently explained that no, I am on maternity leave because Lillian is only 6 months old and I don't plan to go back to work outside the home until Feb 09 at the earliest. The tone of the conversation suddenly changed, and it has thrown me somewhat out of kilter this evening. Suddenly I felt like I had disappointed her, and I had nothing of interest to talk about.
I found myself trying to justify my non-teaching life by explaining that I have a commission that I'm working on. But an hour or so earlier I happily talked to my husband that even though our children have been sick for the past five days, of course I enjoy caring for them even though it's hard exhausting work. That's my "job" and my first priority at the moment. Who else is going to do it, and why should they?
I certainly don't intend to criticise working mothers because I am one even though I work at home and in the evenings. I think it was the sudden assumption that, because I'm at home with my children, doing the kinder drop-offs and pick-ups, taking care of my baby and not going out of the house to work, I'm not really doing anything productive or meaningful.
I believe that despite what the government wants (more women in the work force), there is a cultural swing towards women staying at home and caring for their families while their children are very young (under 2 or 3). Whether that means they restructure their lives so, like I do, they juggle work and children without losing their career, or whether they even put their paid work on pause while their children are young. I do believe it is happening a lot more than is being talked about in the media. Perhaps it's all part of the generational change. The median age for a woman having her first child has risen, and many women have already reached significant career and financial goals prior to starting their family.
Of course there are also many women who would go insane if they had to stay home full time with children! If you absolutely love your job and the people you work with, you're lucky - whether or not you have children. In recent years I haven't been as fortunate, so I'd rather stay home and work on what I want to, rather than beat my head against a brick wall at a place where I'm not appreciated or taken advantage of, in the best sense...
Recently I read an interview with the composer Liza Lim, who said that she did no composition at all during the first year of her son's babyhood. I completely understand how she felt:
There was the period beforehand – gestation – where I really felt my creative power go somewhere else. The tide really went out a long way, and I wrote a couple of crappy pieces where I just couldn’t get it together. I was just in La-la land. I had my child, and I didn’t do anything for the first year of his babyhood – I didn’t even try to. Then there was that whole thing of trying to rediscover my creativity on the other side, which I think lots of women have. ‘Am I the same person in some way, on the other side of having had a child?’
Composition is such a mentally draining activity, that by the time you get through the day's work caring for small children, if you have any brain cells left to write music it's probably happening in your sleep. But I digress.
If this subject interests you, go and read this book, which I found a revelation when I read it a couple of years ago. Not everyone will agree, and that's fine. But do we need a Queensland or overseas holiday every year? Do we need those giant 4WD tractors mowing everyone down in the city streets? A giant-screen plasma TV? A new wardrobe every season?
Whatever. We are lucky that we really can choose what we want to do. The main thing, for me, is that our children are happy and healthy.
I found myself trying to justify my non-teaching life by explaining that I have a commission that I'm working on. But an hour or so earlier I happily talked to my husband that even though our children have been sick for the past five days, of course I enjoy caring for them even though it's hard exhausting work. That's my "job" and my first priority at the moment. Who else is going to do it, and why should they?
I certainly don't intend to criticise working mothers because I am one even though I work at home and in the evenings. I think it was the sudden assumption that, because I'm at home with my children, doing the kinder drop-offs and pick-ups, taking care of my baby and not going out of the house to work, I'm not really doing anything productive or meaningful.
I believe that despite what the government wants (more women in the work force), there is a cultural swing towards women staying at home and caring for their families while their children are very young (under 2 or 3). Whether that means they restructure their lives so, like I do, they juggle work and children without losing their career, or whether they even put their paid work on pause while their children are young. I do believe it is happening a lot more than is being talked about in the media. Perhaps it's all part of the generational change. The median age for a woman having her first child has risen, and many women have already reached significant career and financial goals prior to starting their family.
Of course there are also many women who would go insane if they had to stay home full time with children! If you absolutely love your job and the people you work with, you're lucky - whether or not you have children. In recent years I haven't been as fortunate, so I'd rather stay home and work on what I want to, rather than beat my head against a brick wall at a place where I'm not appreciated or taken advantage of, in the best sense...
Recently I read an interview with the composer Liza Lim, who said that she did no composition at all during the first year of her son's babyhood. I completely understand how she felt:
There was the period beforehand – gestation – where I really felt my creative power go somewhere else. The tide really went out a long way, and I wrote a couple of crappy pieces where I just couldn’t get it together. I was just in La-la land. I had my child, and I didn’t do anything for the first year of his babyhood – I didn’t even try to. Then there was that whole thing of trying to rediscover my creativity on the other side, which I think lots of women have. ‘Am I the same person in some way, on the other side of having had a child?’
Composition is such a mentally draining activity, that by the time you get through the day's work caring for small children, if you have any brain cells left to write music it's probably happening in your sleep. But I digress.
If this subject interests you, go and read this book, which I found a revelation when I read it a couple of years ago. Not everyone will agree, and that's fine. But do we need a Queensland or overseas holiday every year? Do we need those giant 4WD tractors mowing everyone down in the city streets? A giant-screen plasma TV? A new wardrobe every season?
Whatever. We are lucky that we really can choose what we want to do. The main thing, for me, is that our children are happy and healthy.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Sleep
Ahh sleep.
This has been the house of mixed-up sleep patterns for the past couple of weeks.
Lillian has decided that napping in the daytime is an option for whenever she feels like it. And she's been waking at night again. I blame the teeth. I've been watching her little choppers and what I thought would be tooth no. 6 is still under the gum up top, but today I noticed that actual tooth no. 6 has popped though in her lower jaw. So there it is. Six teeth and no. 7 almost sprouted. Last night was the best night's sleep she's had in ages. 7.15pm to 6.45am - heaven! Wish I'd been asleep for that long.
David and I have been staying up too late catching our breath, as it's such a whirlwind with two young bunnies in the house who occupy every waking moment. What do I do staying up after the kids have gone to sleep? Well, I do the dishes and make the lunches. I tidy the lounge and kitchen, as it's really difficult to relax when there is chaos around me. I might fold clean laundry and put it away. Occasionally I iron shirts. Sometimes I mop dirty floors. I watch a bit of tv, but not every night. And of course I pop onto the computer to check messages and catch up with online friends, and I also write some little black dots.
Speaking of which, I think we have good progress. I'm up to just over 3 minutes (15 min max) and past halfway though the first text. I wish the person from Penguin would get back to me about rights to the poem, as the author's son has given his approval for its use, which is very kind. Just need the official 'yes', otherwise the piece is going to have to have a lobotomy. Eep.
I'm pleased with how it's going so far. A lot of it is in my head, which is a little alarming when I look at the blank staves, but as I work in short score with lots of jottings for orchestrations etc, it does come back to me. As a necessity the most important part is the text setting and resultantly the harmonic and rhythmic language, which, in SATB setting, creates itself anyway so there's my kick-off for the rest of the score. And actually I'm enjoying the bits of pre-composition I've got going on a sheet of manuscript in front of me. Chord sequences in various inversions, relationships from one chord to another, little diagrams of interval patterns, and some a-rhythmic vocal writing. Nice to be at this stage of the piece where it's starting to flow. I just need more time and more sleep.
The only person who's been getting good sleep at night is Alexander, bless his cotton socks.
Anyway, I'm off to bed.
This has been the house of mixed-up sleep patterns for the past couple of weeks.
Lillian has decided that napping in the daytime is an option for whenever she feels like it. And she's been waking at night again. I blame the teeth. I've been watching her little choppers and what I thought would be tooth no. 6 is still under the gum up top, but today I noticed that actual tooth no. 6 has popped though in her lower jaw. So there it is. Six teeth and no. 7 almost sprouted. Last night was the best night's sleep she's had in ages. 7.15pm to 6.45am - heaven! Wish I'd been asleep for that long.
David and I have been staying up too late catching our breath, as it's such a whirlwind with two young bunnies in the house who occupy every waking moment. What do I do staying up after the kids have gone to sleep? Well, I do the dishes and make the lunches. I tidy the lounge and kitchen, as it's really difficult to relax when there is chaos around me. I might fold clean laundry and put it away. Occasionally I iron shirts. Sometimes I mop dirty floors. I watch a bit of tv, but not every night. And of course I pop onto the computer to check messages and catch up with online friends, and I also write some little black dots.
Speaking of which, I think we have good progress. I'm up to just over 3 minutes (15 min max) and past halfway though the first text. I wish the person from Penguin would get back to me about rights to the poem, as the author's son has given his approval for its use, which is very kind. Just need the official 'yes', otherwise the piece is going to have to have a lobotomy. Eep.
I'm pleased with how it's going so far. A lot of it is in my head, which is a little alarming when I look at the blank staves, but as I work in short score with lots of jottings for orchestrations etc, it does come back to me. As a necessity the most important part is the text setting and resultantly the harmonic and rhythmic language, which, in SATB setting, creates itself anyway so there's my kick-off for the rest of the score. And actually I'm enjoying the bits of pre-composition I've got going on a sheet of manuscript in front of me. Chord sequences in various inversions, relationships from one chord to another, little diagrams of interval patterns, and some a-rhythmic vocal writing. Nice to be at this stage of the piece where it's starting to flow. I just need more time and more sleep.
The only person who's been getting good sleep at night is Alexander, bless his cotton socks.
Anyway, I'm off to bed.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
A letter to Oma and Grandad
Dear Oma and Grandad,
Thank you for the hug and the kiss!
I'm taking a few moments in my busy schedule of trying to stay awake all day and drive my mother to the nut house. That's why Mummy hasn't been composing much. Yes, I'm 6 months today and I celebrated by staying up late the night before, as well as waking up at 1.30am for half an hour of gurgling and scooting backwards down the cot. Mummy wasn't impressed but at least I slept in this morning a little bit. Our clocks went back one hour but I don't really take notice of such things.
Today Jackie came over and gave me a huge bag of hand-me-down clothes from 00 to size 3, including around 15 pairs of shoes! I have 4 teeth and my 5th and 6th teeth should be here this week as well. I'm eating a little bit but I don't really enjoy the high chair for long as it's a bit tiring. I prefer to sit on Mummy's lap and suck on some food and then put my sticky hands all over her. Great fun! In the past 10 days I have tried chewing/sucking on steamed apple, carrot, broccoli, potato, and some raw pear and banana, and today I tried parsnip and sweet potato.
Lots of love,
Lillian xx
Thank you for the hug and the kiss!
I'm taking a few moments in my busy schedule of trying to stay awake all day and drive my mother to the nut house. That's why Mummy hasn't been composing much. Yes, I'm 6 months today and I celebrated by staying up late the night before, as well as waking up at 1.30am for half an hour of gurgling and scooting backwards down the cot. Mummy wasn't impressed but at least I slept in this morning a little bit. Our clocks went back one hour but I don't really take notice of such things.
Today Jackie came over and gave me a huge bag of hand-me-down clothes from 00 to size 3, including around 15 pairs of shoes! I have 4 teeth and my 5th and 6th teeth should be here this week as well. I'm eating a little bit but I don't really enjoy the high chair for long as it's a bit tiring. I prefer to sit on Mummy's lap and suck on some food and then put my sticky hands all over her. Great fun! In the past 10 days I have tried chewing/sucking on steamed apple, carrot, broccoli, potato, and some raw pear and banana, and today I tried parsnip and sweet potato.
Lots of love,
Lillian xx
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