Margaret's musical ambitions

We certainly want our kids to be musicians--with a lowercase "m". Both of us were reasonably talented musicians and I think it's reasonable to hope that our children will inherit this skill. (By contrast, we do not expect to produce anyone with any athletic ability whatsoever.)

Joseph used to hate when I played my flute. He'd scream and cry and it was pretty traumatic for everyone. He's pretty sensitive to sounds in general. The result has been serious neglect of my beautiful instrument for the last couple of years. I took it out again recently because one of our current students is a fantastic player. Joseph doesn't mind so much now. The bigger challenge is trying to explain why he can't play it. Our myriad recorders, tin whistles, Bosnian pipes, etc. are no substitute for Mommy's shiny keys.

He will tolerate it, though, so I've been playing several times a week. Margaret is a big fan. The case makes a pretty good toy while I play.

We hope to start Joseph on something--maybe piano, maybe violin-- after his next birthday. Maybe Margaret will be another flute player and I'll finally have someone to play duets with me.