Monday Q&A | Music and Lunch Snacks

Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you’d like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!

I finally remembered I want to ask you this. My 18 month old is really interested in music. She always wants to hear some, she rarely is out of key when she plays on the (out of key) toy upright piano we got as a handmedown, she doesn’t want me to sing any more (I can’t carry a tune), she likes listening to Bernstein’s concerts for children. She’s been like this almost from birth.

My question is, how do we nurture this? What sort of music is most conducive to further development? What instrument should we start her with, and when? I’m inclined toward piano because of all the theory one absorbs almost by accident, while learning to play an instrument that sounds more than one note at a time – do you think this is correct? My Julliard-trained aunt pointed out that it’s important that the keyboard be full-sized as children associate physical distance with musical distance but after that she ran out of ideas. She teaches theory and opera to college students, not playing to babies, after all.

-Elise

This is a great question. For now, I’d simply recommend letting her listen to lots of good music (not just one genre either), helping her learn songs to sing, and giving her toy instruments to play with (drums, shakers, a xylophone, a harmonica, etc).

As far as starting an actual instrument, I usually recommend waiting until a child is 6 years old before starting formal lessons. Except for some unusual cases, most kids who are 5 and younger aren’t ready for the responsibility of practicing and don’t really have the cognitive ability to learn how to read notes and count.

If you are very anxious to get her started with lessons, you can look and see if there is a Suzuki teacher in your area. Suzuki teachers begin by teaching children how to play by ear rather than teaching them to read music, so they often start children as young as 3 years old. Violin and piano are the two main Suzuki instruments, as far as I know.

I know I’m biased because I’m a pianist, but the piano is a great, great first instrument. As you said, when you play the piano, you absorb quite a lot of theory and rhythm without even trying. I also like how the piano makes it easy to understand music theory. It’s easy to see how chords relate to each other, why there are half steps between some white keys and not others, why some keys need accidentals, and so on. Another reason a piano is great for beginners is that it’s very easy to produce a sound on a piano. You don’t need to hold your breath or blow really hard or press multiple fingers down or move a bow. In addition, a new pianist is never more out of tune than the piano is, which means that a beginning pianist is much easier on the ears than, say, a new violinist! 😉

Of course, after taking piano lessons, your daughter may decide she’d prefer to learn another instrument, but even in a case like that, the time spent on the piano would not at all be a waste. The piano is a great springboard for all sorts of other instruments, and even vocalists benefit greatly from learning how to play the piano.

My husband works a factory job, and has a limited time for lunch. He usually tries to take leftovers from whatever we have had for dinner during the week, but he also likes to take quite a few smaller, snacky type items. I HATE, HATE, HATE buying the expensive, bad for you snacks from the grocery store. You know the ones I mean…brownies, fruit snacks…all the processed stuff. However, since we are a dual income family, I feel pressed for time and feel like I have no other choice. (Other than fresh fruits and raw veggies.)

What does Mr. Frugal Girl take in his lunch? What do you suggest? The cost and lack of nutrition in these convenience items infuriates me to no end…

Thanks!

Shelley

My husband takes leftovers like your husband does, but I do also pack some snacks for him, as he’s sort of a grazer. While I don’t always manage to send perfectly healthy lunches with him, I do try to send as much unprocessed stuff as possible. Though I usually pack his lunch each day while he eats breakfast, the ideas I’m sharing here could be made ahead if you are really short on time (you might try packaging up a week’s worth of crackers at one time, for instance). Though I don’t work full-time outside the home, I don’t find myself with a lot of spare time, so instead of making homemade versions of convenience foods, like granola bars, I try to pack foods that are naturally convenient.

Nuts

These aren’t particularly cheap, but they are really handy, and they provide a lot of nutritional bang for your buck. I buy large bags of nuts and just put a couple of handfuls into a small lidded Pyrex bowl. That keeps the cost and the trash output down.

Fruit/Vegetables

I never do anything fancy with the fruit, and sometimes I send it whole and unpeeled. I often peel oranges or tangerines and put them in Pyrex bowls, or I wash grapes and put them in a glass bowl.

Baby carrots are easy to pack, and so is celery (just quickly slice it into pieces). If he likes cherry tomatoes, you could pack those the same way I pack grapes.

Crackers

These aren’t as nutritious as fruit and nuts are, but they’re not as bad as brownies, “fruit” snacks, or chips. We buy the huge containers of Wheat Thins from Costco, and I just put some into a (you guessed it!) glass lidded container when I’m packing his lunch.

Yogurt

Again, most commercial yogurt isn’t highly nutritious (mostly the problem is that it’s high in sugar), but as long as you’re not buying something like watermelon squeezable yogurt, you are getting something with good bacteria and some protein.

Eggs

My husband hates eggs in most forms, but oddly enough, he likes hard-boiled egg whites. So, when I have the time and inclination, I hard-boil several eggs and send them in his lunch for a snack.

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I hope that’s helpful, and I’m positive that my readers will have some other good ideas to share with you. Readers, what nutritious, easy, and frugal snack ideas do you have? And do feel free to share any insights you have regarding children and music education.