The Sound of Music

It's not that I expected my children to be music prodigies. We signed them up for lessons this fall because (1) they've been asking for lessons for as long as I can remember, (2) we had the means to pay for lessons, and (3) it's a worthwhile investment.

What I didn't expect was how much time I was going to spend, as a parent, reminding them to practice, answering questions, setting the timer, ignoring the moans and groans when I remind them again to practice. I'm pretty sure Camden, especially, thought that he was going to pick up the guitar and drumsticks and immediately know what to do with them.

I took piano lessons from age 5 through college, and I clearly blocked off the aspect of playing an instrument that requires hard work and consistent practice. It should come as no surprise that Camden and Rory aren't huge fans of practice because I have (as Brian reminded me) memories of sitting at the piano with a little egg timer set to 45 minutes, crying through the entire 45 minutes. 

My poor parents.

When I was in 6th grade, my dad paid me $1/week in order to play the piano for our small church. As in, I played while the congregation sang. My first week I ran back to my seat on the pew when I forgot that we were singing 3 verses and stopped after two. 

I think it's safe to say that they won't be playing in public anytime soon, but I do hope these lessons will ignite a love for music as well as develop an appreciation for the feeling of accomplishment that comes when you improve as a result of hard work.