You practice two hours per day, and your 2yo kid wakes up at 4.30am? I guess that‘s outstanding. For sure I wasn‘t practicing at all during the first few years that I had kids. It‘s difficult enough even now (4yo and 5yo) to squeeze in 15 minutes of focussed playing. The last years I had a ukulele that I grabbed here and there for strumming a few chords. I found that I could include that in my daily schedule best.
Edit: Concerning waking up at 1am to practice: Yeah, why not. If I had enough sleep and my life would depend on playing the piano I would also do this. Otherwise not of course. Did your teacher do this regularly for a longer period of time, or was this e.g. one crazy week that he/she now tells everybody about for decades? Sorry for being sarcastic, but the idea seems completely out of scope for any nonprofessional.
Such a lovely reply!
How do you fit in your playing now? Do you wait til bedtime, when your 2 are in bed? You’re right about a small stringed instrument. Much easier to tinkle away at while in front of the kids.
It wasn’t my teacher who practiced at 1am. It was an ABRSM examiner who was practicing concertos for concerts so maybe her life did depend on that practice? Haha you made me laugh about the ‘one crazy week /telling everyone’.