In October or November we went to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Cincinnati's School for the Creative and Performing Arts. It's a K - 12 school that focuses on all sorts of arts: writing, acting, music, stage management, whatever. It's SO COOL. You pick a major while you're there, and that thing becomes a part of your everyday curriculum. Neat, right?!
Well, the play was SWEET. Almost everything was done by students, and the amount of talent there staggers the brain. After the play was over, Miciah turned to me and said, "I want to go here." I was like, "Right?! Me, too." But she was serious. She immediately went on-line and found the forms she'd need. She lined up the recommendations from teachers at her school. She let me know about all the due dates and audition times. We found her a viola teacher who could beef up her skills for the audition in March. The girl was ON it.
And then, as time went on, she started having second thoughts. We had quite a few conversations about it that went something like this:
"Mom, I'll miss my friends."
"You'll make new friends, of course."
"But I've been with these friends since Kindergarten."
"Right. Your friend group will change. It's a trade-off."
In the end, we didn't pressure her one way or the other. Going to the new school would change our lives (mainly by adding 2 plus hours in the car, every M-F). But really there was no Right or Wrong here. It was just whatever she wanted to do.
In the end, she decided to stay where she's at.
There are two reasons I wanted to mention this whole thing.
1 - When we talked about why she decided to drop it, she talked about all the usual things, like her friends and not wanting to change things if she didn't have to. But then she said something that struck me as very wise: "It was an impulsive decision anyway." I just nodded and said, "That's true." Not that impulsive decisions can't be the right ones, but the fact that she called it for what it was impressed me. The girl has some decision-making skills.
2 - Piano. She's been taking piano since she was 8 years old. She likes piano, and she's good at it. But she LOVES viola. When we started talking about her getting a viola teacher, I looked at Rob and said that we needed to let her drop the piano. He wasn't happy about that. Oh, the regrets she'll have later! He gave her speeches. You know, the "Someday you'll look back and wish you'd continued with it, just like I do" kind. I wasn't impressed. I finally talked him down. For many reasons, which all seem to me to be fantastic ones. Like - She's already super busy with all great things, like Writing Club, Math Club, 2 school orchestras, stage band, volunteering at the library, and the youth group and church, and getting the best grades in her class, not to mention just trying to be a kid sometimes. And like - She's always told us what she wants, and we just let her do it. The girl knows what she wants. But the way I won this argument was like this: - and prepare yourselves now to be impressed - "Do you listen to Yo Yo Ma and think, "Yes, but what a shame that he can't play the piano better"? No! Of course not." Bam!
So, Miciah is happily only doing viola lessons, and piano just for fun, and everyone is happy.
The End
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