Without Hurry or Rest
Dr. Shinichi Suzuki had very good advice about setting goals and using time wisely. He truly wanted you, as a parent, to know how to make more time to love and learn with your baby.
Dr. Suzuki said, “Without hurry, without rest–without stopping, without haste–carefully taking one step forward at a time will surely get you there“.
One of his main goals was to help parents believe that their child could learn and develop high abilities. He also believed that children could develop those abilities earlier rather than later.
Use your time wisely to help your child grow.
More Time to Love and Learn With Your Baby
“Time marches on” as the saying goes. Quite honestly, I was not sorry to see 2020 march right out of sight! How about you? However, 2020 and the pandemic may have taught all of us a couple of lessons about time.
Firstly, never assume you have more time. Secondly, wisely use the time you are given.
For 2021, I would like to suggest a third lesson. When you organize your time, you have more time to love and learn with your baby.
“Without hurry, without rest–without stopping, without haste–carefully taking one step forward at a time will surely get you there.”
Dr. Shinichi Suzuki (Nurtured By Love, p. 45-46)
Dr. Suzuki’s quote, most likely, was based on the poem “Haste not! Rest not!“ by German poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). Suzuki spent 1921-1929 in Germany studying violin. Undoubtedly, he would have had the opportunity to read the famous poet’s works.
The Poet Knew About the Hurried Life
From reading his poem, Goethe obviously knew about the effects of a hurried life. Living life with a baby in your family probably seems like the very opposite of “without hurry”. Furthermore, you feel lucky if you can make one step forward at a time without taking two steps backward!
We always seem to be in a hurry to feed the baby, do a diaper change, dress the baby, strap in the car seat, get to your destination, etc., etc. Thus, it just never seems to end!
When we get in a hurry and feel pressed in by the clock, we get frustrated and even angry. Hence, we do and say things we really never intended. Unfortunately, some of the consequences of our hasty actions and words are often not easily undone.
Right now, taking care of your baby requires that you be organized AND build in extra time in your schedule. For instance, it takes 10 extra minutes to get out the door because of a messy diaper change. If you have built in the extra few minutes, then you won’t be in such a hurry.
Accordingly, panic can be avoided if you have planned a time for each activity for your day and your baby’s day. Make sure you have included the margin of extra time, “wiggle room” if you will.
Then you will have more time to love and learn with your baby. I wish that I had figured out that much sooner when my kids were little.
Always Make a Plan to Love and Learn With Your Baby
As a rule, we are in charge of most of our time. So, we can reasonably plan our personal activities. Certainly, it is up to us to use our time wisely to parent and educate our children.
For this reason, I am a big advocate of using a planner of some kind to keep my life in order. That way, I am less likely to forget appointments and to do things.
I know I have written several posts recently about how parents use their time. However, I believe it is that important.
So many people “spin their wheels” due to the fact that they haven’t planned much of anything. Consequently, they are frustrated beyond belief.
Eliminate Hurry
Right now you’re thinking, “Yeah, right! How do you eliminate hurry?” OK, some situations are truly emergencies and require fast action. But, if we are totally honest, those type of emergencies don’t happen that often.
So that means you need to concentrate more on what you really want for your baby and yourself.
Do you want a more peaceful home life? Are you looking for the joy in spending time learning with your baby? Or do you just want to spread more love around to your family?
In his book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, John Mark Comer puts out the idea that peace, joy, and love are incompatible with hurry. Think about it. You cannot have any of these three things if you are always in a hurry.
If you are over-extended and involved in too many things, then you will have to do some real soul searching to decide what is most important to you.
The problem is that you may be doing good things that take up too much time and force you to hurry.
Do You Really Want Peace, Joy, and Love for Your Family?
Here is the soul searching part: you will have to choose to do only the best things from the good things that you do. It’s hard to decide sometimes.
But, trust your gut. You know if something is working well for you and your family. You also know when something really isn’t working well. Then you have to be brave and bow out of that activity or commitment.
Let’s to back to the planner for a moment. Write down everything you do and give it a time frame.
If that planner page is covered with To Do items with no “wiggle room” available, you are going to be in a hurry to get it all done. Or you will be frantic about not getting it all done which causes more hurry.
So, to have that peace, joy, and love that you want, choose to do only the best things for you and your family. Use a planner.
You will be more organized and will find more time to love and learn with your baby.
Without Rest-Without Stopping
Wha-a-t!? But, Susan, you just said to quit being in a hurry! Yes, that should be your first priority. But, I believe Dr. Suzuki was reminding us that we also need to be consistent in all we do.
We have to avoid doing things in “fits and starts”. Ask me how I know this. Again, make use of your planner. It can help you “carefully take that one step at a time forward” to find time to love and learn with your baby.
There will be times when the planner “explodes!” It just happens. But, realize that you can always get back into the planner. Start where you left off and continue on “one step forward at a time”. If you do, you will get there!
When you plan your time and activities, everyone in your family benefits. Your baby especially benefits because they are the one who requires most of your time and attention right now.
Let that time be a wonderful peaceful, joyous time filled with love. My wish is that your time would be filled with music, books, and musical activities. These things can provide relief from so much stress.
Learning and Love
Your baby has so much potential and can develop high abilities. But, it all depends on the environment that you create for them and the time you give them. If it is filled with learning and love, much can be accomplished for you and your baby.
On the “Beautiful Heart Musical Journey” with you,
Susan
Share and Comment
If you use a particular type of planner, please share it with us in the Comments below. Also, tell us why it works for you. There isn’t a “one size fits all” planner out there. So more suggestions from all of you will help someone else choose a planner just right for them.
“Your Musical Baby” would love it if you would LIKE us and SHARE with your friends on Facebook & Instagram!
