Lesson #88
Gently push...don't shove
I like to think I know what is best for my kids. I try to make fair decisions. There are some things we must ask our kids to do out of safety or for their general well-being. But when it comes to things like extracurricular activities, it can be difficult to walk the line between encouragement and forcing them to do something.
I have always wanted our kids to learn a musical instrument. It is one thing I never did as a child and it is a huge regret of mine. I think it provides several benefits to kids and also think it can be really fun once they learn how to play. My husband plays guitar and sings so he has definitely been on the same page.
When the opportunity came around for Max to do a Rock-n-roll camp, we thought we had a slam dunk! Who wouldn't want to do this? Well, Max...that's who. He insisted that he had stage fright and did not want to do it. We backed off for a while, dropping subtle hints about the camp and how fun it would be to learn to play like his dad. Once Dad started up a band and began practicing in our house on Mondays, the idea of rock-n-roll camp became much more appealing. Max was pumped to do it.
We just finished two weeks of camp this week and this kid loved it! He not only learned how to play the guitar, keyboard and drums, he also learned how to read music. He liked it so much he came home and wrote out his own song and played it.
I am so glad we took the approach we did in gently hyping up all of the fun it would be. In the end, it was his choice but we definitely guided him in that direction. It was so great to see him almost cracking a smile during their performance. He still had a very serious look, but it was a far cry from the look of terror we witnessed when his class performed at the holiday concert just six months ago. We just might have a musician on our hands.
Gently push...don't shove
I like to think I know what is best for my kids. I try to make fair decisions. There are some things we must ask our kids to do out of safety or for their general well-being. But when it comes to things like extracurricular activities, it can be difficult to walk the line between encouragement and forcing them to do something.
I have always wanted our kids to learn a musical instrument. It is one thing I never did as a child and it is a huge regret of mine. I think it provides several benefits to kids and also think it can be really fun once they learn how to play. My husband plays guitar and sings so he has definitely been on the same page.
When the opportunity came around for Max to do a Rock-n-roll camp, we thought we had a slam dunk! Who wouldn't want to do this? Well, Max...that's who. He insisted that he had stage fright and did not want to do it. We backed off for a while, dropping subtle hints about the camp and how fun it would be to learn to play like his dad. Once Dad started up a band and began practicing in our house on Mondays, the idea of rock-n-roll camp became much more appealing. Max was pumped to do it.
We just finished two weeks of camp this week and this kid loved it! He not only learned how to play the guitar, keyboard and drums, he also learned how to read music. He liked it so much he came home and wrote out his own song and played it.
I am so glad we took the approach we did in gently hyping up all of the fun it would be. In the end, it was his choice but we definitely guided him in that direction. It was so great to see him almost cracking a smile during their performance. He still had a very serious look, but it was a far cry from the look of terror we witnessed when his class performed at the holiday concert just six months ago. We just might have a musician on our hands.
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