First Concert

A couple of weeks ago, Big Dad and I took Jor Man to his first concert.  Train and John Mayer each performed just outside of Boston.  I had been thinking, the last couple of times that I was at a concert, how much Jor Man would like it, and we finally decided to make it so.

We also thought that it might be nice for Jor Man to have some time alone with mom and dad.  After all, he hasn't had us to himself since, well, since Campster was born and he was three-years-old.

I was surprised how apprehensive he was.  So many questions:  Would it be safe?  Would I stay right with him the whole time?  How many people would be there?  How long would it be?

I answered the questions to the best of my ability and assured him that Big Dad and I would not be taking him some place that wasn't safe for him.  But, it would be a very late night.  And he would see some very odd behavior.

Sure enough, there were people tailgating in the parking lot and getting really drunk.  Some of the women were scantily clad.  We had discussed alcohol in the past.  I cook with wine, but don't drink.  We've talked about drunk drivers.  Jor Man thinks drinking is stupid and bad.  And while I am glad he does not revere it, I think he a bit judgmental.

I decided to take the opportunity to talk about drugs.  I explained that there would be people smoking marijuana at the concert.  I said I wasn't sure if we would see anyone smoking it, but that we would certainly smell it.  Jor Man was shocked and appalled!  So cute how innocent he is.  But I don't want him to be naive.  We talked about what marijuana does to the body and the mind.  He asked me to describe the smell.  I couldn't.  But I promised to tell him when I smelled it.

Sure enough, I did.  And I calmly told him so.  He didn't smell it at first.  And then his nose shriveled up a bit, and he got a sickened look on his face (always the drama king!).  "Oh, yuck!" He cried.  "Why would anyone want to smell that?"

Both bands were magnificent - really impressive drums and guitar.  John Mayer is amazing - reminds me of Jimi Hendrix.  Jor Man was properly inspired.  We haven't been able to get him off his guitar and drums since.  I've noticed he is hearing music differently now - searching out the guitar lines, and differentiating between single notes and chords.

Technically, I was in my first concert.  It was sixth grade, and I was singing in Carnegie Hall with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  I was blessed to grow up in the town where the Children's Chorus sang with the CSO under George Solti and Margaret Hillis.  Doreen Rao, mother of the children's choir movement was our director.  I still have the piece, Mahler's Eighth Symphony, memorized, all these years later.  Even though it was in latin and in german, it stirred my soul.

Great music does that - whether classical or contemporary.  I hope you will make the effort to take your children to see some really great music performed.

The video below is not me, and not even the CSO, but it is my favorite part - the finale of Mahler's Eighth.   Enjoy!




Wish you were here!

Here is our King

Beauty Mom and Sher Bear singing and strumming

Like I said in a previous post, I want to learn to play a David Crowder song for worship.  Well, I got the chords off the internet and have been practicing.

It's funny how I can go for a while without touching my guitar, and no one else is really interested in touching it.  Then, when I get it out, suddenly all three kids MUST play guitar.  This was the scene this morning as I attempted to play.  I finally decided to let the Sher Bear strum while I fingered the chords.

Jor Man rocks out!

Now Jor Man has his electric guitar out, and Sher Bear is strumming on my acoustic, singing praise at the top of her lungs.  It doesn't take much to get kids excited about making music.

Here's the song I am learning:  Here is our King.  I hope on Monday, during our drum lessons, Jon will help us each find a part to play so we can play it together.  We're not ready to lead worship yet, but it's a start.

The video below is David Crowder Band playing it how it is supposed to sound.  :)  I like it because it is so worshipful.














Wish you were here!

A Brighter Way

Jor Man on the far left 

Last February, Jor Man was invited to be part of a world effort to sing for Haiti.  Truth be told, they needed more boys.  But it was a nice invitation - and he had fun singing and, especially, twirling the ribbons! (Jor Man is on the far left in the orange shirt).

It was incredibly challenging for Jor Man who had never sung with this group before and had an hour or so of practice before they filmed it.  But he really got a kick out of seeing himself on YouTube.

By the way, in the video below, the pictures of Haiti were taken by a friend who was part of the missions trip from our church to Haiti before the earthquake.  And the child at the very beginning is a child she sponsors.

I remember that at the time, Jor Man was very moved by the earthquake (pardon the pun) and wanted to help.  How wonderful for kids to be empowered to give and help in times of need.  Not only is it lovely, it builds the child's sense of purpose and power.  It's interesting to me how many wonderful opportunities are out there - even in our rural area - if we just keep our eyes and ears open and are willing to try new things.

I meet home schooling families who don't get out much, and complain that there aren't many resources available to them.  But I have found that networking begins with being friendly with people - letting them know you are interested in what is going on around your town.  It can be isolating to not have your kids in school.   There is a network of people and events that we "miss out" on by not having our kids enrolled.   But don't stay home and pout!  Get out there and meet people!  And if there isn't a homeschool support group in your town, start one!  Be the positive and proactive person you want your kids to become.  Model it for them.  Not only will you get to find out about great opportunities for your family, you'll meet new friends and introduce people to home schooling and to the Lord.

Wish you were here!

Make a Joyful Noise

Campster tries out the trumpet

Our weekly "drum lessons" have continued, and have morphed into musical experiences of all kinds.  Campster wanted to try the trumpet.  Jor Man wanted to play the guitar.  So each week we each play whatever instruments we want to play.  It's spontaneous, and wonderfully unstructured.  And it doesn't look like any music classes I've ever been a part of.  But the kids are loving it and we are all learning to play and make music together.

I am learning a lot from Jon, the "teacher".  He will make suggestions to the kids about a rhythm to play or to try doing it "like this".  And the kids sometimes will do what he says.  But sometimes . . . well, sometimes they blow him off.  And the prideful mommy that I am - I feel ashamed of my kids.  Or is it of my parenting?  There, I said it.  I feel like they "should" obey him.

But I notice that Jon is not affected by their lack of obedience.  He simply goes with it.  He'll say "Oh, that's a cool rhythm you are doing.  Let's do that."  And then he'll tell them what their rhythm is called.  The kids trust him and see him as a co-creator and co-discover-er of this mysterious thing called music.

Each week I see improvement, not only in technique, but in willingness to try new things and enjoy the process.  If we are afraid to make "mistakes" and feel we have to it perfectly, it really takes the joy out of it.  I am reminded of John Holt's experience of learning the flute as an adult, which he writes about in How Children Fail.  He would get so tense and stressed at the expectations of the teacher, that he became unable to think and to remember how to play.  The only thing that relieved this was to make the very mistake that he most feared making.

Jor Man learning chords on his electric guitar

In an interview, he said:  "I started the flute at 34; I was a very bad learner, very tense, very scared of mistakes. I started the cello at 40. I was better, only played a couple of years because I was lecturing and had to quit. Took it up again at 50; I was a still better learner. I've taken up the violin now at 60, and I've gone much further in the first year - with 10 to 15 minutes a day on the violin - than I did in my first year on the cello. Some of it is a transfer but some of it is that I'm much happier at the whole business of learning something new. Much of it is just by hanging out with these little guys [children] and seeing what they do."

I try to remember this when I am tempted to "make" the kids learn.  It is counterproductive.  Kids learn best when they are free to learn, what they want to learn, when they want to learn, and how they want to learn it.

Sher Bear has a "microphone" that she employs as she sings out her original lyrics.  She worships with abandon.  She is a witness for Christ to the "teacher".  Not because she shares theology, but because the passion of her heart is Jesus.

Big Dad letting the neighbors know we're here.

Big Dad is getting to where he can keep a beat!   I am tempted to say that this is miraculous, because in the past he could not clap to the beat, even if he was watching others clap.  But I have always wondered how a person can play basketball; bouncing the ball, and measuring his steps to the basket, without rhythm?  He is also trying guitar for the first time.  I think we will all be surprised by his musical abilities.  He has never pursued music before.  As a child in catholic school, he sang in the chorus.  One of the nuns told him and another student just to mouth the words.  Really.  Talk about being more interested in the product than the process.

I would like us to work on a song to present at worship - perhaps a David Crowder song?  But I also don't want to hijack what is already working so well.  Perhaps I will learn my part, and invite others to join in as they like.  Now I want to decide: do I learn it on the piano, or the guitar?  High-class problem, I know.  There are so many wonderful ways to worship the Lord!

Wish you were here!

Priming the Pump

Jor Man has shown an interest in playing the drums.  He drums on everything; the table, the wall, the sofa, his sisters.  We met a man who gives drum lessons, and I thought that Jor Man would love it.

"Nope," he said when I asked him if he wanted lessons.  (Note to self: Do not ask questions that you do not want to hear the answer to.)  I did the obvious response, trying to talk him into it,  "You'll love it.  I will be fun.  Give it a try."

"No."  Hmmm.    Sometimes kids are afraid to try new things.  If you have kids like mine, you may have to "Prime the Pump".

What we did in the case of the drums is this:  I talked with Jon (the drum teacher) and set up a time for him to come over.  Jon suggested that I not call it a lesson, but just a jam session.  When it got to be about a week away, I mentioned to Jor Man that Jon would be coming over to jam with him.  "It's not a lesson," I said.  "If you don't want to jam with him, you don't have to.  I will.  Maybe the girls and Big Dad will, too."

"Okay," he said, looking disinterested.  But I have to say that I noticed that Jor Man drummed more and more as the week went on.  He would remind me that Jon was coming by.

And when Jon arrived today, Jor Man was genuinely excited.  You might not have known it to look at him.  He was doing an uncharacteristically shy routine.  Jon pulled a drum and bell out of his car, and I got our drums out.  The girls came running over.  And Jon just starting drumming.  Jor Man came over and picked up the bell and joined in.

Pretty soon, Jon was giving Jor Man some tips and having him try out some rhythms.  When his interest waned a little, Jon brought a drum set out of his car and set it up on our driveway.  Time to let the neighbors know we're here!

Everyone wanted a turn at the drum set.  There was some "free drumming" as Campster dubbed it.  And Jon showed everyone a simple rhythm to try.  Well, at least it looked simple.  We all burst into giggles as we found that we couldn't get our hands and feet to cooperate - at least not on the first couple of tries.

It was a beautiful afternoon.  The neighbor's horse, and our chickens wondered about the noise.   Kids tried the drums and then ran the tricycle down the hill as fast as they could.  More drums.  Another run down the hill.  Jon was super patient with the kids (and the grown ups).  He's coming back next week.

Wish you were here!

The Edison

I'd like you to meet the Edison - that's what we call it.  I can't remember how old I was when we got the Edison from my father's cousin Jamie, but it has been in the family all along.  Its technical name is a cylinder phonograph.  It plays wax cylinder "records" specially made for it by Edison's Blue Amberol Record company.  


The Edison lives at my mother's condo now.  On our recent trip to Chicago, I showed my kids how it works.  Yes, it still works very well.  It is operated by a hand crank on the right side of the cabinet.  It uses no electricity.


My mother had the cabinet for the cylinders specially made.  My favorites are "Waiting on the Robert E. Lee" and "Harmony Bay".

Antiques are a great way to share family history, and ignite kids' interests in a subject.  Jor Man got very excited when I pointed out that Thomas Edison's company made it.  Campster wanted to know if Thomas Edison's germs were on it?  (LOL!)  Sher Bear just danced around to the music.

Being as old as I am (chuckle) I remember old 78 LPs.  Then 45s and 33 1/3s.  It must have been quite a leap to go from cylinders to disks.

When we were dating, Big Dad still had his 8-track player.  I used to record my favorite songs off of WLS radio onto cassette tapes.  And then CDs came along, and now mp3 players.  That's a lot of change in just my lifetime.  Imagine before Edison, people could only listen to music if it was live.

That's real history - how it affects people in their every day lives.  Share with your kids the changes that have happened in technology since you were young.  What was it like for your parents growing up?  Can your kids think of questions to ask their grandparents about how things have changed since they were young?

And what can your kids invent to change the future?

Wish you were here!