Lily's first day

So she's started fifth grade. That sure makes a parent feel old. Next year she'll be in middle school, and I told her she could get her ears pierced. She's too much of a chicken to do it, doesn't want it. I also am considering getting her a mini-iPod so she can listen to music.

Last weekend I downloaded iTunes to her laptop and showed her how to upload CDs. She is totally into music now, all of a sudden, like within the last couple of months. She listens to musicals mostly, thank god, but also the occasional Miley Cyrus, and she had been asking if she could go on my computer and listen to my music.

So now Lily has her own music and can add more. And I now allow sharing on my iTunes, so she can listen to my music, some of which she knows and likes already. Dave isn't so sure this is such a good idea, but part of my motivation is keeping her up with the Joneses in class, helping her to stay current with what her classmates are doing, so she doesn't seem like a Luddite and she isn't cut out of the social loop. It's why I sometimes get a hot flash and think, we should get fancier cable, so she can watch Hannah Montana and stuff like that. But then I sit down and let it pass.

Speaking of which, she seems to really like her new homeroom teacher, Mr. Riddington, also her math and science teacher, who is friends with my sister's husband's brother. Got that? He's new this year, although he used to teach here a few years ago. Lily already knew she liked Ms. Lutsky, her social studies and language arts teacher.

She's going to take flute lessons at school, thank god (we struggled with her flute and practicing all last year and I think the structure of lessons will go a long way). And she's going to be taking a theater improv class on Thursday afternoons in Florence, not far from our house, and she's auditioning for the children's choir at the Northampton Community Music Center. They say almost everyone gets in, except if they are really young, and that this is a good way for kids to learn to sing. She loves to sing so much and I think if she has some help she will really enjoy singing even more, and be less fearful about singing in front of others. I've been playing her 5's on the piano and trying to help train her ear.

Finally, I am encouraging Lily to audition for the local Nutcracker, at the Pioneer Valley Ballet Company. It's a commitment for the fall -- rehearsals every Sunday afternoon -- but she'd meet a lot of local kids and get to work in a real theater. And she doesn't have to know how to dance. I am all for this. We'll see if I can wear her down . . . I mean, she doesn't want to play soccer, and these are great ways to meet kids with similar interests. Or maybe she should just take swimming lessons, so she gets some exercise besides her daily P.E.