Thursday, February 16, 2012
Piano Mom
I am not a soccer mom. I am a piano mom. It seems to be an art form to figure out how best to be a piano mom. I am sure it is not a whole lot different from being a soccer mom or any other sort of mom of kids investing time in one particular talent. Listening to my daughter play is a joy just like it was a joy to listen to her older sister. Sitting in on her lessons is a little bit of a respid for me as I can just chill on the couch and soak in observing her interact with her teacher and literally see the light bulbs go off. What I ponder is how not to be too involved with the whole thing and allow the teacher to completely orchestrate her lesson and preparation for the next piano event, albeit her lesson or a competition. I very carefully consider how much I talk to my daughter as a piano mom so as not to muck up what is already going on between her and her teacher. I love the musical process and seeing it all come together and the end result is awesome. And.....what if my daughter is not on top of her game some weeks? Well, then it is carefully considering what sort of big deal or no deal at all I am going to make of it. I usually make nothing of it and move on. I do my best not to be the crazy pressure beauty pageant mom. It is okay. What if she decided she didn't want to play anymore? What then? Would I crush her with disappointment or just love her. Hopefully it would be the latter. She did a beautiful job this evening at her Stickley recital for her teacher's studio. Wow. Amazing. Very proud of her.
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You mentioned trying to stay out of the relationship between the child and her piano teacher. Since I'm the one who gives the piano lessons around here [can't afford to pay for lessons] I've really struggled with that. What's resulted is that there are seldom any lessons. Seldom!! The child has to have some ownership, and Mom can't be micro-managing the whole piano scene, for every practice session, every day. At least, not when there are so many mouths to feed and socks to fold...
ReplyDeleteWe were actually blessed with an opportunity to trade labor for lessons. I am grateful but sometimes would just rather pay her. She does not hold it against us or anything but.....well....can't explain exactly. Cecilia is addicted to practicing and doesn't seem to let anything hold her back. I don't have easy answers as I have fought that battle myself and lost. Reminders and being ignored sort of go hand and hand with some kids. Sigh. Picking our battles aren't we Susan.
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