Spring Music Concert
Tuesday night was the spring music concert at the middle school. Nearly half of the school population is enrolled in band, choir, or orchestra. This seems astonishing to me! Is that normal for a middle school? The music teacher is very popular and obviously talented. I don't remember music being so popular when I was in junior high school or high school. It's great! (Although similar to my school experience, orchestra is WAY less popular than band--the orchestra had only three kids in it, and only one of them was any good!)
Chris did an excellent job with his drumming. I commented to Mike that when your kid is a drummer, it's really quite easy to pick out his playing in the band! (And clearly, it would be easy to pick out any mistakes he were to make as well!) I actually think all that time spent playing drums on Wii Rock Band has improved his drumming a great deal (and band doesn't hurt either!).
My mom, too, was a drummer. I never really thought about what a maverick she must have been back in the 1950s until I read A Girl Named Zippy, about life in small-town Indiana. Zippy was slightly younger than me, but when she told the music teacher she wanted to play drums, he said "Girls don't play drums." It had never really occurred to me what an unusual choice this must have been for my mom when she was in school. She expanded beyond the drums to play the marimba, and even though she doesn't play any more, I have fond memories of hearing her play--she was astonishingly good!
Swimming Lessons
In an amazing feat of time management prowess, Mike has once again gotten all three boys enrolled in swimming lessons at the same time. We used to trade off going into the pool with Nicholas, but I found the water to be so cold I wasn't really enjoying it much...so I asked Mike if he minded going in the pool instead. He doesn't seem to. Chris is in the lap pool, while the younger ones are in the kids' pool, so I spend my time swiveling back and forth watching them.
We had them out of lessons for 6 months, so when they learned we were restarting, both Kieran and Chris complained bitterly. This is the first time Chris has complained about swimming, but we finally dragged it out of him--the last time he took swimming, a girl at his school was in his swimming class, and she had something of a crush on him. It's a long story, but he was afraid that she would be there again. Chris is focusing on improving his strokes--he has become a solid swimmer--he probably should be on swim team or something like that. But lessons are easier!
Kieran, for his part, was afraid of doing bobs. But by the end of the first lesson, they were both fine and are enjoying it. And bobs are getting easier every day.
Nicholas is loving it most of all! That boy seriously loves the water. He decided to wear his sunglasses today, because he wanted to wear goggles like his big brothers!
Tuesday night was the spring music concert at the middle school. Nearly half of the school population is enrolled in band, choir, or orchestra. This seems astonishing to me! Is that normal for a middle school? The music teacher is very popular and obviously talented. I don't remember music being so popular when I was in junior high school or high school. It's great! (Although similar to my school experience, orchestra is WAY less popular than band--the orchestra had only three kids in it, and only one of them was any good!)
Chris did an excellent job with his drumming. I commented to Mike that when your kid is a drummer, it's really quite easy to pick out his playing in the band! (And clearly, it would be easy to pick out any mistakes he were to make as well!) I actually think all that time spent playing drums on Wii Rock Band has improved his drumming a great deal (and band doesn't hurt either!).
My mom, too, was a drummer. I never really thought about what a maverick she must have been back in the 1950s until I read A Girl Named Zippy, about life in small-town Indiana. Zippy was slightly younger than me, but when she told the music teacher she wanted to play drums, he said "Girls don't play drums." It had never really occurred to me what an unusual choice this must have been for my mom when she was in school. She expanded beyond the drums to play the marimba, and even though she doesn't play any more, I have fond memories of hearing her play--she was astonishingly good!
Swimming Lessons
In an amazing feat of time management prowess, Mike has once again gotten all three boys enrolled in swimming lessons at the same time. We used to trade off going into the pool with Nicholas, but I found the water to be so cold I wasn't really enjoying it much...so I asked Mike if he minded going in the pool instead. He doesn't seem to. Chris is in the lap pool, while the younger ones are in the kids' pool, so I spend my time swiveling back and forth watching them.
We had them out of lessons for 6 months, so when they learned we were restarting, both Kieran and Chris complained bitterly. This is the first time Chris has complained about swimming, but we finally dragged it out of him--the last time he took swimming, a girl at his school was in his swimming class, and she had something of a crush on him. It's a long story, but he was afraid that she would be there again. Chris is focusing on improving his strokes--he has become a solid swimmer--he probably should be on swim team or something like that. But lessons are easier!
Kieran, for his part, was afraid of doing bobs. But by the end of the first lesson, they were both fine and are enjoying it. And bobs are getting easier every day.
Nicholas is loving it most of all! That boy seriously loves the water. He decided to wear his sunglasses today, because he wanted to wear goggles like his big brothers!
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