Stage mother at the piano recital.
I am so not the stage mother.
But honestly at this point, I think it would be better for my child if I was.
* * *
Today we went to the rehearsal at a local church for my daughter’s piano recital on Sunday.
The Lord gifted my daughter with an ear for music. This is good because I am tone deaf. No. That is really being way too complimentary about my musical skills.
She can play quite well. But, she doesn’t practice.
Oh, she practices some. But not like she should.
A good mother would step in and make her play at least 30 minutes a day.
I am not a good mother. I’m happy when she sits down and I hear cheery melodies floating through the air. I never keep track of the time.
She got up today and played both her songs.
There was a little bit of stumbling.
She came rushing over to me after she was done.
“Can we go?”
No. I explained we needed to wait till the end. Then I said,
“Hannah you just need to practice more.”
Her reply,
“I can’t play on that piano. That’s not like our piano. It’s too clean.”
The more she explained, the more it made perfect sense.
The chips and dings in, pencil marks on and chocolate-stains ringing our ivory keys are her markers. They are how she recognizes the notes.
This church’s piano is pristine.
And it freaks her out.
I get it. Imperfect to touch. Weeds in my garden, dirty dishes in the sink and toothpaste splattered on the bathroom mirror.
It’s hard for me to play in perfect peace where things are sterile, not real.
What do you think? Is it easier to play on imperfect keys?
Of course this post never would have been written if I could afford to have someone clean my house six days a week.
This was a tricky thing for me when I played. I was pretty good when I was young and I never practiced as much as I should have done. I could play on the pianos I used for practice (we didn’t have our own until I was older) but the one at church was…different. And intimidating. And pristine. I can feel her pain. For my very first piece in church I got my fingers on the wrong keys THE WHOLE TIME and played through. Of course, there were enough older folks who were completely tone deaf and told me how great I sounded! LOL!
That’s funny — yet terrifying story. She did great today at the recital. Not completely fluid, which she once again blamed it on the keys’ appearance.