Well, tomorrow is the last day of school. I am feeling unusually sad about this last day. I think it's partly because I have so enjoyed Tyler's teacher this year. I would like her to just move along with him next year. I'm mostly sad because tomorrow is Tyler's last day at the elementary school. Next year he will be a big 5th grader at the middle school. He'll switch classes, sign up for electives, ride the bus again, and be a lot more responsible for, well, everything. He and Danielle won't be in the same building again until he is a junior and she is a freshman. I'm sad because once again we're closing one chapter and moving on to another. Sigh. The kids are just growing up way too fast. I have a hard time believing my "baby" is going to be a 3rd grader, too.
Band starts in 5th grade at our school, and Tyler has decided to try it. I have to admit that I was definitely not on board when he came home a couple weeks ago and told me he wanted to play the flute. Regardless of how you feel about gender stereotypes, you have to admit that boys who play the flute are teased about it because it is generally viewed as a "girl" instrument. We had one boy in our band who played the flute, and he was teased. (Wearing pink shirts and short shorts didn't help him any.) I really tried to discourage Tyler simply because I don't want him to be picked on. Finally I told him he simply couldn't play it. That didn't work either. After several more "discussions" I had to back off and let him make the choice.
Tonight we went to the "fitting" so he could try out a couple different instruments to be sure he could make a sound with them. They had to have 3 instruments in mind for the fitting. His first choice was the flute, and my heart sunk when they handed him the mouthpiece and he immediately made a sound with it. He had a harder time making noise with it once it was put together, and he struggled to hold it correctly. Finally he admitted it was a bit harder to play than he had expected. His second choice was the trumpet. He successfully tried the mouthpiece and then added the body of the trumpet. He was thrilled with the strong (loud!) sound he got from it. He also tried out the percussion, but he was sold on the trumpet. Actually, he wasn't just sold on it, he was super excited about it!! I am so thankful it all worked out that way! So, starting this fall, Tyler will be playing the trumpet. Assuming he sticks with it (which I think he will), mark your calendar for their first concert in December. Hopefully it will be less painful than the recorder concert!
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2 comments:
Two things: first we could have given you a drum if he'd picked percussion. Rob and Ron's drum is still in the basement.
Second, be thankful he didn't pick the trombone. Andy never did figure out how he could get his arm to stretch out that far when he was Tyler's age.
Looking forward to hearing that trumpet ;-)
Danielle has decided she wants to play the trombone. She was so upset when we didn't buy the one we saw at a garage sale a couple weeks ago!
Now they don't actually start with drums. For the first year or two they learn on a practice pad and keyboard (like a xylophone).
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