Playing the Clarinet
We always try to be positive parents with our children; that way they can be more positive too…
The last few days have been our daughter’s show case. On Thursday, the boys and I, armed with cheddars, cereal bars and a packet of Haribos each, sat through the music club concert and their sister’s rendition of Puff the Magic Dragon on the clarinet. They all did really well, players and audience alike, with complete pieces. Some of them did struggle a little particularly with sitting quietly.
The next morning she was a queen in her class assembly. Again participants and audience did really well, the oldest with his class and the youngest distracted, amused, or maybe both, with a pot of dried apricots and cheerios!
Then, it was on to her first clarinet exam – Grade 1. We were both a little nervous – me trying not to show it so she wouldn’t pick it up from me, while she was worried about squeaking (which can happen if you blow too hard into your clarinet).
We have tried to instil a “can do” attitude, balanced with the idea that the practise and effort they put in will make it easier, and that the belief that “I can do it” will take them a long way on the road to success – BUT when the immediate first response is “I can’t do it”, it does feel like a steep uphill struggle trying to get them to believe us!
Seems like an uphill battle, but practise makes perfect
Anyway back to the exam – her teacher came out saying only one small squeak and then she emerged with a grin:
“It was OK.”
Perhaps next time there will be less of the “I can’ts” and more of the “I cans,” with some understanding that practise helps!
Wouldn’t that be nice?!?
I feel this is a conversation that will continue to occur in many different guises whether for homework, music, sport, exams and even job applications.
Now we simply await the exam results; yet another pattern I am sure will be repeated.
This is our regular guest post by Beckie Whitehouse from Be Confident Coaching.
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine!Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time.KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10.It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania.Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on.Get in touch TODAY!