My two older boys just had their recital yesterday at St. Cecilia Hall, St. Scholastica College in Manila. It was the climax of their two-month-long summer classes. My eldest son had summer piano lessons. My second son was part of Kids Acts Philippines Inc. or K.A.P.I.’s Kinder Theater Summer Workshop.

Yanthy, my eldest, led the invocation by playingThe Lord’s Prayer on the piano. After that, he played his recital pieces (Minuet in G major, Minuet in G minor and three of the exercises in his book).

Mateo, my younger son, was part of the musical The Emperor’s New Clothes. This was his second time to be part of a musical. Last summer, he and his older brother were both part of K.A.P.I.’s Kinder Theater and the musical Beauty and the Beast.

My kids were so happy and proud to be part of yesterday’s event! This made me happy, too. Seeing the smiles on their faces made all my sacrifices and exhaustion in bringing them to their summers classes worth it. I thank the Lord for providing for all our needs during this time. This included the drivers who helped us go to their classes and who brought us home after, stay-out maid who made housekeeping easier and more bearable for me and my husband and of course my mom who helped me take care of my baby in the past week and helped bring Mateo to some of his rehearsals. I thank God that my youngest son was very cooperative and did not make it hard for me to bring him to his big brothers’ classes. I’m thankful that we were allowed to wait in an air conditioned room while waiting for his brothers. It has been two months of receiving countless favors from God! Two months of experiencing God’s mercy and graciousness!

I look forward to a more relaxed schedule in the coming months as we continue with our homeschool adventure. We don’t need to wake up early anymore. We don’t need to rush to eat breakfast, pack our things, dress up and leave for school. In the next days, school will be wherever we are once more. We will spend more days at home in the next days and months. Less stressful and less costly. But I’m still glad that I let the kids enroll in these summer classes because they enjoyed meeting new friends and being with their previous classmates and friends from last year’s workshop. They were also happy to be part of a community of young artists.

I’m so glad that I chose to be hands-on with my children since they were infants. Staying home with them and personally caring for them paved the way for me to discover their interests and talents early. Because I was able to notice their interests at a young age, I was able to provide for them activities and programs that helped them explore their interests even more. I didn’t have to go through trial and error and waste money or our precious time enrolling them in classes or programs that do not feed their interests or passions or that do not match their natural talents. They got to learn more about these interests. My eldest learned to read notes because of his formal piano lessons. He learned the proper way of playing the piano. He learned more about music and the great artists who were good in this field. My younger son learned vocalization and acting techniques. He learned new songs that he enjoyed singing. He learned new stories through the musicals that he joined. They both learned more about the world of theater. We found mentors who could help them develop and hone their talents. We’re happy that we found a performing school and an award-winning teacher who can help our eldest son get an international certification (ABRSM) for his piano lessons. Exploring their interests also helped them discover their passions, which could possibly be their future careers. This is true for my eldest son who seems to have set his eyes on building a career in music particularly in playing the piano. I’m thankful that we gave him the opportunity to explore this instrument. He used to play the guitar when he was younger. But he stopped for a while because his fingers were still short and he was having a hard time doing the chords. That’s one of the reasons he shifted to playing the piano more. I’m so happy he did!

Last but not least, I’m so thankful that while being a hands-on parent to my children, I was able to continuously pursue my own passion and earn from it. I still got to launch my newest book, my first-ever children’s book Mommy Loves You Just the Same and a number of other products related to it. It has truly been a memorable and wonderful summer for all of us!

 

How about you? How did you spend your summer? Feel free to share in the comments section.