Old interests

One thing that all parents know is that interests and hobbies usually get pushed to the back of the priority list with the arrival of children. This is typically required for a at least a short time, but how many of us ever pick those interests back up? One of my goals for the new year (one I did not list here earlier) is to get back to one of my pre-children interests.

Something that mostly only my family and a few friends from childhood know is that I took 13 years worth of piano lessons. At first it was something my parents made me do and even later it there were times when I wanted to quit my lessons for more free time. I was never good enough to be a concert pianist or anything close, I just love sitting down at a piano and playing a song or two for myself.

A few months ago, my parents gave us a piano, mostly for my children to be able to start lessons in a couple of years. I mostly ignored the piano until the last month or so. It is very hard for me to sit down and play, all 3 kids love to help out with my songs, and the perfectionist side of me gets frustrated with the errant notes; my own and theirs.

Two weeks ago I made the decision to not let this stand in my way. I plan to make a trip to the music store to buy some new music and get back to one of my loves. Music, specifically piano, is a large part of my past and something that brings me a lot of pleasure, this house has had a silent piano for too long and that side of myself has been silent for too long.

Do you have interests/hobbies/passions you have let go? Maybe 2009 is a good time to revisit those and bring back a part of your pre-parent life.