I LAUGHED UNTIL I CRIED

Sarah is in her second year of playing the viola. She likes to have me listen when she practices and the other day I was doing just that. As I watched I was amazed at how far she's come in a year. Last year she struggled through wanting to quit and hating the sound the viola made. I decided to force her to stick with it even though I feel that music should be something you enjoy. At the end of last year the teacher put her into the orchestra with the older students and Sarah felt lost and many times actually WAS lost. She didn't play well enough to be able to keep up with the other kids so many times just sat there not playing. So while watching her practice this time, I pointed out how much better she was doing. Then I asked her if she found that she could keep up with the other kids this year. She replied "That's not really my specialty, I think I'd make a better soloist". She also told me that many times the teacher will yell out "WE'RE ON MEASURE NINE!". For some reason this got me laughing.....until there were tears rolling from my eyes! Sarah is only 9 years old and the whole thing sounded hysterical coming from her. What a great way to look at things. Its not that she can't keep up with the other kids, its just that she was meant to play solo!