When my daughters started playing music
My own entry for the IndieWeb Carnival on parenting will focus on a very specific thing, that has meant a great deal to me. One of the many amazing things of having kids is seeing them grow up and change. They might seem like the same kid today as yesterday, but not many days have to pass before you suddenly notice huge developmental changes. One of those moments for me was when they started playing an instrument.
I have no musical skill or knowledge myself. I can only listen and music is something that moves me emotionally. Both my daughters have been going to a private music school almost from infancy, and now they have started getting instrumental lessons. My oldest daughter plays the flute, and the youngest plays violin and recently also piano. Both very quickly learned to read sheet music and that became a big shift in my head, because it marked the first time where my two daughters could do something I couldnβt.
When your kids are small, of course you are the grown up, the experienced one who can show, explain and teach them things. From using the toilet to riding a bike. Now they can laugh at me while pointing at their music scores because I don't understand how a dot on that line becomes F sharp, or why another one is B flat, or whatever. It is a pivotal moment because it marks a new phase of them developing into being more fully their own self, where our influence as parents will likely matter less and less in the coming years.
Coming home from work and hearing someone practicing Swan Lake is also a small joy. There is something special about hearing instruments played live in front of you, and not through a speaker or headphones, and I never get tired of hearing them practice. Obviously they are still on the simpler melodies, but there is also great beauty to be found in simple elegant small pieces of classical music.