What goes around, comes around

Tuesdays afternoons are a battle zone at our house. It is piano day.

You would think I would learn - what goes around comes around. I used to make my mother's life a living hell not wanting to practice and now our daughter is doing the same. She has got to be the most stubborn person I know, oh wait she is the second most stubborn person. The home office is numero uno.

We have the perfect set up, our piano teacher is a wonderful neighbor who lives down the street. He is incredibly patient and kind to the children, way better than the old biddy, Mrs. Morgan, I took lessons from. We have given her chance tickets, celebrated milestones and let her earn cash for playing, still she wants nothing to do with piano "lessons".

Sure she plays the piano all of the time, however they are her own compositions. Often I will think she is practicing her new stuff, but it is her originals she is playing over and over again. I usually discover this when we sit down to review on Tuesdays and nothing in the book sounds remotely like what she has been playing. So, should I continue to make her do something she doesn't want to do? Something that makes me want to tear my hair out and results in the biggest fights we have ever had?

Begrudgingly the answer is yes, we don't want her to start quitting now. She doesn't truly hate it, plus she is really good at it when she tries. We as parents need to hold her accountable, DLS and I talked and TV privileges will be based upon piano time. That should be a fun conversation at dinner, "Honey, you will have no TV until you practice piano a half-hour a day, please pass the peas."

I don't know how my mother put up with me for nine years of piano lessons? I am thankful now for being able to play at age 36, but how do you explain that to a nine year old with all the answers? Did I mention I cannot wait until she is a teenager? Should be fun.