The long way round to learning music

Am listening to #1 working out the piano accompaniment to Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling in Love with You.

She has already more or less mastered it on guitar (self-taught 90%, tutoring from Daddy 10%).

Good to see her five years of piano tuition are coming in handy again.

There's a lesson here for parents like me who believe in firmly "guiding" our children in the way we want them to go, which is not necessarily the way they want to go.

Sometimes, it's good to chill and let them work it out themselves.

Even if it means they won't finish AMEB Grade 8 or be eligible to audition for a music scholarship.

Or if they decide to emulate Taiwanese-American pop star Wang Lee Hom, who gave up piano at 8 and rediscovered it at 18, and is reputed to play several musical instruments proficiently (piano, violin, guzheng, guitar, electric guitar, drums, harmonica).

There goes one sport

#2 has just quit swimming, after *only* four years at it.

Hubby and I tried a mix of cajoling, incredulous expressions, reminders that her two good friends are still at it, even blatant sibling comparisons (jie jie only stopped when she reached Pumpkin!), but to no avail.

At one point, #2 turned to me and said, "You can't tell me what to do!"

On another day, she declared that she is now enjoying piano much more than before.

I was so relieved and thankful, because she had been on the brink with that and martial arts.

Did I mention she's only 8. Sheesh.

In all this, I'm trying to separate my emotions, judgments and values from what my child wants. But it's very hard to not judge oneself. I am both the character playing a part on stage and the critic watching the movie, if you know what I mean.

Late Bloomer Makes a Decision

Today was a hallmark day.

The 12 y.o. agreed - AGREED - to take out her bicycle from the shed after many YEARS and let Daddy teach her to ride.

Something she's put off for years.

Wow.

Hubby reported that she's actually very confident and unafraid and it won't be long before she can ride competently.

Amazing what can happen when someone makes up their mind to master something.

Hubris through the eyes of an 8 y.o.

Overheard Miss 8 confessing to her friends when they visited recently...

"My hubris is pride. I get envious when other people do better than me at schoolwork."

Was impressed by her honesty and level of self-awareness.

Was impressed that she knew the word 'hubris', picked up no doubt in her reading of Greek mythology (Percy Jackson and the Goddess Girls series).

Next thing: to teach her how to use the word correctly.

Ex: "My fatal flaw is hubris ... Hubris means deadly pride, Percy. Thinking you can do things better than anyone else ... Even the gods." -- Annabeth Chase, The Sea of Monsters

The Best Times

I love Sunday afternoons when we're all relaxed at home doing our own stuff.

Today, B invited me to play Monopoly Empire when I was deep in a collection of short stories by Frederick Forsyth. I decided I would put aside what I wanted to do to do what she wanted to do, because it's always a privilege when a tween invites me into their world.

We played one round together, then J asked to join in.

Very interesting observing the sibling dynamics. I was trying not to intervene too much and just let things play out naturally. After some time, B's defences started to come down. While she remained highly competitive and played to win, there was also a lot of laughter and friendly rivalry.

The best times are times with my family.