Suzuki Institute Week

This week is Suzuki Piano Institute week - a weeklong "camp" for children and their teachers that play the piano using the Suzuki method. Dh would quake with anxiety as the week approached each year, for being out of the house all day, every day and on someone else's schedule was more than this gentle homeschooler could handle. I would literally turn into a raving lunatic. I wonder how I would do as a working mom?

So far, however, this week has been pleasant. Lauren is the only pianist in our family at the moment, and at 13 years, is old enough to conduct herself becomingly from class to class and find a few friends with whom to each lunch. So, I drive her 1/2 hour each day to the University, drop her of and come home. William comes along for the ride, watching the marvelous invention - the personal DVD player. Anna delights in staying home and is now using a bulldozer to clear her room in preparation for an overnight guest.

Last night, Lauren played in the Student Recital. Her song was right after a young pianist who played a Beethovan Sonata. Somewhere in all the repeats, the young girl forgot how to get to the ending and played for over eight minutes. I was sure that her arms would fall off, exhausted. At first, I thought maybe I just didn't know the song length, until I saw two teachers glace at each other and then whispering - which they rarely do in a recital.

I think all this waiting and anticipation threw Lauren off a bit, and she had some bobbles in her playing, which she rarely does. Still, she played beautifully. I told her that I was more impressed that she was able to recover from a mistake and finish the song than I would be if she was a piano genius and never made a mistake. Life is full of mistakes, and it is the ability to finish the song and maintain your composure that carries one through.