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By Sally Torbey
About this blog: About this blog: I have enjoyed parenting five children in Palo Alto for the past two decades and have opinions about everything to do with parenting kids (and dogs). The goal of my blog is to share the good times and discuss the ...
(More)About this blog: About this blog: I have enjoyed parenting five children in Palo Alto for the past two decades and have opinions about everything to do with parenting kids (and dogs). The goal of my blog is to share the good times and discuss the challenges of having a satisfying family life in a community where parents set a high bar for themselves, their children, and the schools and organizations that educate and socialize them. I grew up in the Midwest, attended a small liberal arts college on the East Coast and graduated from medical school in Chicago. I left a pediatric residency to care for our then infant son and spent the next dozen years contentedly gestating and lactating while having four more children. My husband grew up in the Middle East, came to the US for graduate school and works in high tech. Our eldest son graduated from a UC, and after working in the Middle East for a few years, now attends law school in NYC. Our eldest daughter graduated from a Midwestern Big Ten University and is a journalist in Texas. Our middle child studies engineering at a UC. The youngest two girls are in middle and high school in PAUSD. We are celebrating 20 years as PAUSD parents! I volunteer in the public schools, our church, and scouting.
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Sing and celebrate
Uploaded: Dec 5, 2016
I recently joined the choir at our church. I have wanted to join for many years but teaching Sunday school took priority when our kids were little and weeknight rehearsals were challenging with a spouse who travels. Rehearsing before Sunday services made getting the rest of the family to church difficult as even attending a 10 am service on the weekend is pushing it for teens. But now that the older of our two teens is driving, and our youngest daughter can get herself around by bike, I am taking advantage of their independence and singing with the choir.
Even though there is no audition required to join our church choir, most of the choir members are far more accomplished and experienced than I am, which is intimidating but energizing. I’m taking voice lessons and am happy to be making slow but incremental progress, which is giving me confidence and lessening the anxiety, self-consciousness, and feelings of unworthiness that come with performing with a group of talented artists! I am way out of my comfort zone, but everyone has been very encouraging and the emotional lift of singing is so worth it. Singing with others, particularly in harmony, gives people an oxytocin boost, and I can attest that even a mediocre singer can enjoy the mood lift from this hormone!
My growing confidence was also the impetus for attending my first Messiah sing along this weekend. My voice teacher performed the alto solos and listening to her is awe-inspiring. I had no idea how long the Messiah actually is, and we sang only a portion of it over the hour and a half. I limped through most of the choruses, but slogging through the piece made singing the last more familiar Hallelujah chorus all the more exhilarating. It felt like we’d climbed a mountain and then relished the view from high above.
Fortunately the upcoming holidays provide ample opportunities to celebrate with song!
Community.
What is it worth to you?
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