I was never as dedicated to practicing as I should have been. I have never not been a musician, never not had something that I should be working on. But the hard work and dedication aspect of musicianship was never really my strength...
Shocking. I know.
But I was much more interested in hanging out with my friends... and holding warm cups of chai tea in my little hands across the street at the coffee shop. That was infinitely more appealing than practicing. Honestly, I have no idea how I even managed to scrape by.
Dang.
But as the mom now, I am able to have a different perspective.
Practicing really does make a difference.
No, seriously. It makes you better.
I know!!! It blows my mind too.
Seeing how much better Lucas and Max do on the violin with just a little bit of regular practice has really made me want to be more diligent about it.
Because, really...
I'm the one who has to be dedicated to their music at this stage of the game. I can't really just say, "Hey boys. Go practice." It isn't like washing their hands. I have to be there, helping and instructing every tiny step of the way. Which actually... If I want their hands to be really clean... I have to be there for that too... because boys are gross.
But I digress.
So. Practicing.
It works.
Who knew?
Every music teacher I ever had, that's who. Oh, I shudder to imagine my college horn professor reading these lines... I would be in trouble... But not too much. Because even though I was a horrible student... He loved me anyways.
So.
Practicing.
Amazing.
I've been really trying to practice more with the boys. Max has really improved, and I'm so proud of him. Last week after an amazing display of virtuosic prowess (ummm, okay. that's a bit of a stretch. But it really was much better). I told him. "Max! you are going to knock Miss Jody's socks off at your next lesson!"
Yesterday after school the boys were eating a little snack of clean vegan cookies (that is another story, Gentle Reader. But I actually got my kids to eat them. And I'm feeling pretty self satisfied and smug about it. So you can bet your boots your going to hear ALL about it next week.), and Max said, "Mom! I am going to knock Miss Jody's head off!"
We've definitely gotten a little more violent around here, what with the Power Rangers, and Star Wars, and Super Heroes, and the general fighting of bad guys that goes on around here every minute of every day. But I thought this was going a little far. Jody is a sweet lady and we all love her very much. Knocking her head off was a bit excessive.
"Max! That isn't a very nice thing to say!"
He paused for a second.
"I mean her socks. I'm going to knock Miss Jody's socks off! And her shoes!"
He did, too. Max had a fantastic lesson. His focus and attention have improved so much. I'm so proud of my little guy. He was pretty proud of himself, too. He laughed with delight at her exaggerated shock at his performance. His sweet face beaming.
Then I noticed his bright blue eyes dart down to her feet... Checking to see if she was still wearing her shoes and socks.
No comments:
Post a Comment