Little Women
• Mar. 15, 2006 - 11yo successfully "retires" from piano
After 5 years of lessons (though only about 3.5 years of practice time! :) ) my 11yo has "retired" from piano lessons. She'd really like to take cello, and I have told her I would try to work this out in the fall. (She may also go back to piano, but is enjoying the break.)
Our local piano teacher's federation has a "competition" every year, where the kids can earn points. When they hit 15 points, they get a gold cup. Last year, my daughter was crushed that she "only" got 4 points, instead of the 5 she would need. She wanted to quit piano then, but decided to stay on to try for the gold cup.
She has taken an additional whole year, now, and worked really hard. Then, near the end, she started saying, "Well, I don't really need to practice this. I only need one more point, and I get that just for coming, no matter how badly I play!"
(This, needless to say, did NOT make Mom happy!)
We had a nice little talk, in which I told her that, if she got 3 or fewer points, I would call it "quitting" and not retiring. The point was to PLAY, not just to get a cup with as little effort as possible.
So, this week, she had her performance.........
And, she got 5 points!!!
Sometimes, I think our kids don't get enough chances to really work at something, to try hard, and then, eventually, succeed. I am proud of her for learning this lesson!
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