A word to the wise —
be especially wary and cautious of encouraging your children to take up a challenge. To persevere in the face of difficult situations…because the goal is worth the process.
Realize when you share such inspiration, your words may come back to haunt you.
I should know.
Recently, the children and I were completely taken up with a piece performed by a young lady at her senior recital. We hummed the tune through the next few days, and then it sort of faded away.
Weeks later the music was resurrected with a visit to youtube, and the humming began in earnest once more. Both my 10 yr-old daughter and 7 yr-old son say they dream of the day when they too can play this very song.
I told them of course they could play it!
Bit by bit, practice by practice, and one day they would be ready. A whole elephant can be eaten one bite at a time! {Yes, I say such things…but really? who wants to actually eat an elephant? Must think of a better example}.
That’s when their little eyes lit up and their energy turned towards me — no one was discouraged anymore!
‘Oh, but Mom! YOU can play it though! YOU could do it!’
Ha. Ha. But they were quite serious, especially my son. Mom, please? It’s not too hard for you. I responded while this fact is somewhat true, I also shared with him it’s been a long time since I’ve practiced consistently.
And well, the piece is not the easiest for a comeback. And Mommy has many responsibilities, and things to do and…and…
But Mom — a whole elephant can be eaten one. bite. at. a. time! pipes my daughter.
See what I mean? Consider yourself warned.
SO! The challenge is on, and music is being ordered since after a search through our stash, we didn’t find it. I won’t have the benefit of an orchestra, but my son has offered to hum this part for me. 🙂 Bit by bit, practice by practice…
The piece? The 3rd movement of a Beethoven Piano Concerto…enjoy the youtube video we’ve been glued to of late (email subscribers, you may need to click over to the blog) —
Happy weekending…
That’s beautiful!! I think I’ll be listening to that a few more times too!! Make sure to post a video of yourself once you’ve learned it! 🙂
I’ve been actually considering giving myself a challenge to learn a new piece just to keep myself sharp. I play every week with our worship team, but it’s not challenging enough to make me any better! 🙂 I should probably start with some of the pieces I already know, but are SUPER rusty! 🙂
I love that piece too! A young man was working on his masters in piano when our oldest daughter was working on her Bachelors in Fine Art at a local college. This young man would come home with her to eat and then give us mini concerts in trade for his supper and he has played this piece in my living room. He has his premiere concert at Carnegie Hall this month! He married one of our daughter’s college friends and is back here to play for concerts at the university from time to time. Your children would enjoy seeing him play because he is a dwarf. Hunt up Wael Farouk on You Tube.
Sorry–should have finished my thoughts before I pressed enter. Wael was told as a young child that he could never play the piano because his hands were too small. They are indeed child sized. He is a real inspiration with what he has accomplished. Wael is Egypthian and a believer. Enjoy!
I love how your motivation to learn the piece was what it meant to your children. So the feeling of it has to do with your relationship as a family. That is truly meaningful.
Even though the whole episode could have been about pressure, somehow you exude calm throughout the post. Thanks for sharing!