February 13, 2005 - Sunday
Last week when I saw the listing for a free cello & piano recital last evening, I knew we had to go. I want the boys to go to things like that, if for no other reason than to learn how to listen and be respectful in a crowd. And with the success of the hand bell concert, I already feel pretty confident with the boys in that kind of setting. But more importantly, with Jeremy's professed desire to learn the cello, he would almost certainly want to go to a cello concert and it would be a good way to gauge his true interest and readiness (??, can a 3-year-old really be ready for something like that?). So, we went, and as with both the piano and hand bell concerts I brought coloring books for the boys. Harry opened his right away, but Jeremy didn't. Jeremy sat, watching and listening for the entire first set of two-pieces and something like 7-10 minutes before asking for his coloring book. Even then, he was never entirely withdrawn from the concert. I think it was a great success. At a little reception after the concert, I had a brief word with the cellist, a cello teacher herself, and mentioned Jeremy's interest. She said that while she would be moving out of the area, she had worked with 3-year-olds and that there was another teacher who might be able to work with Jeremy.

With that, this afternoon we took Jeremy to a music store that offered a 1/10 size cello for rent and let Jeremy sit with it for a moment. When he saw the man take it out of the case he asked, "where is the stick?" clearly having seen the concert cellist using the bow to play. We got out the bow.

There was no seat in the store that was small enough for Jeremy. He barely had the strength to run the bow over the strings. And his left hand fingers were far from strong enough to press on the strings. But his eyes glowed when he held it and he was giddy when he made open string notes with the bow. We did not take the cello, much to Jeremy's dismay, because I need to speak with the music school, if not the teacher, to find out whether it's just plain crazy to try and teach a 3-year-old to play the cello. But I'll start that tomorrow.

Of course, Harry has said he's wanted to be a drummer for a couple of years now. The difference between his drums and Jeremy's cello, aside from them being drums and cello!, is that whenever I've asked Harry about taking lessons he's refused, often admitting that he just wants to bang. Tonight Harry said for the first time that he wanted to take drum lessons. Of course, when I mentioned that he's said before that he didn't want to take lessons, he said, "I want to take lessons now, because then you'll get me a drum set." He's a shrewd one that 5-year-old. But if he makes it through a few months worth of lessons, I think they'll be a lot less question about him being serious about it.


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