Overheard at piano lessons

My kids have piano lessons from five to six on Tuesdays. Eve goes in first, and I sit with Angus in the waiting room, then they switch. At the same time, there's a woman with two tall blonde long-haired daughters -- they're eleven and twelve, but they look older. I always get a kick out of overhearing their exchanges because they mom is sarcastic, sort of like me, and one of the daughters absolutely HATES taking piano lessons. Every time they would come out with the instructor saying 'she can do it, she just doesn't want to practice,' and the girl saying 'because I HATE the piano' and the mom saying 'I really don't mind if you have to beat her'. The mom often overhears Eve talking about how much she loves playing the piano and Eve's teacher talking about how well she practices, and sometimes the mom tries to hold up Eve as a shining example for her daughter. The daughter looks at Eve, amiably enough, and says 'don't do it! Don't let them brainwash you! It's a horrible instrument!' and Eve giggles because a teen-ager is talking to her, who cares what she's saying.

Today Eve was still in her lesson when the girl came out. The instructor said to the Mom 'I don't know what the deal is, but grade five is going WAY better than grade four'. The Mom said 'you know what, there's been some big hormonal shift or something, because suddenly she's practicing, and she's not arguing and...' and the girl piped up 'and I'm nice now!' and the mother nodded happily. Every now and then, they throw you a bone. That's why we don't abandon them on a mountainside for the carrion birds, I guess.

Comments

Julie said…
oh, i'm looking for that bone right now. and if it doesn't come soon, i'm looking for the highest mountain. or hill, consicering where we live.
March 3, 2010 at 5:12 AM
Anonymous said…
That's why we don't abandon them on a mountainside for the carrion birds, I guess. - I love it!
March 3, 2010 at 6:53 AM
Mary Lynn said…
That's hilarious.
March 3, 2010 at 8:06 AM
Anonymous said…
Isn't that the truth? I've dealt with that kind of attitude many, many times - with the same child. But it DOES get better!
March 3, 2010 at 9:29 AM
Magpie said…
Oh, the things we have to look forward to.
March 3, 2010 at 9:42 AM
alison said…
Rae's seven. When is the magical hormone shift? The nearest hill to my place is the Carp dump.
March 4, 2010 at 4:53 PM
Tracy (AKA The Mayor!) said…
Yep, but the older they get, the less bones they seem to throw us! My son started getting lippy just this past year (11), but my oldest DAUGHTER...man, that sh** started way sooner than my boy! Doesn't she KNOW that I'M the only bitch allowed in this house?? Worse...2 more daughters coming up behind her. Sigh. By now I'm not looking to abandon THEM, I'm looking to be abandoned myself....on a beach somewhere is good. :-D
March 9, 2010 at 10:10 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Super Dark Times

Image
 To my American friends, I'm sorry. Not in any kind of distanced, pitying, smug way, because I believe we are headed in a similar direction here in Canada, and I am sad and sick at heart. I told myself I wasn't hoping for the other outcome because I was afraid to, but I realize that I absolutely was, because I was not prepared for how bad this would feel.  Some random thoughts I am having about the whole thing. 1. I'm going to try not to hate anyone. For a while at least. I am totally cool with anyone else hating people that helped this happen. A lot of them did it out of hate. Some did it out of ignorance. Some are struggling and desperate and thought this was a solution. I know that's not an excuse, but it makes me think of when I read The Drowned and the Saved by Primo Levi. He said that he didn't feel like he could judge people who betrayed their fellow Jews for favours from their captors, because he was never given the opportunity and if he had he couldn't ...
Read more

Books Read in 2021: Four-Star YA Horror

Image
I am pretty well ensconced in the January doldrums. We are in a deep freeze, and after the major snow dump on Monday I never catch it snowing, and yet there are a few centimetres on the driveway by every evening. I'm happy with my decision not to take any office shifts for a few weeks - it's incredibly stressful, will only be more so now that people are pissed that we're not supposed to be reporting Covid cases, and I don't even get paid my regular library rate. But it does sort of make the days run together. I try to walk Lucy, but it's so cold she starts dancing around lifting up one paw after the other for me to warm with my mittens. We've tried paw covers but haven't found any that fit. So I walk her around the block and then bring her home and keep walking. It's been cold but not very windy, so walking is quite pleasant (I'm finally not too warm!)  I am rewatching The Golden Girls, which I don't think I ever watched all the way through befor...
Read more

I'm Sick

 Seriously you guys, I am SO SICK, and I have been stupidly engaging in presenteeism even though I am STRONGLY DISAPPROVING when other people do it. It's not because I think I owe anything to the school board (oh my goodness I do not). It's not because I have delusions of grandeur about how important my job is - wait, maybe I do, because at some of my schools my classes have already missed two weeks of library because of EQAO (which necessitated students writing exams in the library), and it's almost the end of the year, which means most of the librarians are closing the library to circulation soon if not now, and I really didn't want to make them miss one of the last library periods.  Also, and I am putting myself out there so try to be kind, I have realized that there is a dumb little part of people-pleasing oldest-child self that always suspects that if I call in sick people think I'm faking, so it's a tiny bit gratifying to go in and have people say oh my GO...
Read more