The Kids, Part One Zillion

I'm sorry. There. I got it out of the way. I am aware of the fact that nobody likes a braggart, but sometimes I have to brag. And I do believe people will still like me despite it. Come on now, I'm pretty charming! Anyhow, there's your damn apology. Now, please enjoy my bragging about how great my day was and how awesome my job is.

Tuesdays are long. Actually, Mondays, Tuesday, and Wednesdays are all extremely long, but I think that somewhere along the way, I must have subconsciously and strategically planned my schedule to be the way it is. One hilarious kid after another, a few moments of breathing time here and there, and short driving distances; it all works out perfectly and makes the long days go by quickly. I go to seven houses on Tuesdays and teach eleven students. And they're all great. Here's a little breakdown of today:

House #1: S, 12 and P, 10 have both requested the song "His Cheeseburger" from Veggie Tales. I bring them the music and the entire family (of 8) gathers 'round to look at the music and display their excitement. Here's the song:



Later, P and his mother are talking and she sort of half-sarcastically pinches his cheeks and says how cute he is. He reaches up, pinches her nose, and says "you're pretty cute too, Mom." Also, while his brother was playing "Down by the Bay," I could hear (not see, mind you) his 5-year old sister singing along made up words that included "down by the sea, with all the things, I have to go, down by the day."

House #2: This is the house of the girl (K, age 6) who touched my tooth once. You know she's a winner. Today we did a song called "The Crawling Spider" and she told me about the time she put tiny fake spiders next to her babysitter, and her babysitter screamed and ran to the bathroom and threw up 60 times. Mmm hmm.

K's sister, L, age 13, participated in the Solo & Ensemble Festival this weekend, which is when students prepare a serious classical piece to play in front of a judge and get feedback. I already knew she'd done wonderfully, and that she'd received a 1 (you can get a 1, 2, or 3, and 1 is the highest) but when she showed me her critique sheet from the judge, I saw that she got an absolutely perfect score; she couldn't have gotten any higher and the judge had absolutely nothing negative to say! Amazing. There's a fantastic Teacher Moment if I've ever seen one.

House #3: There's a lot of hugging and love and smiles. A, age 12, talks to me about how she composes. "I don't know, I just think of a song in my head and then my fingers do it. I don't know." This girl will probably be famous some day. Her compositions are amazing.

House #4: Previous A's friend, another A (also 12, we'll call them A1 and A2) has been taking lessons from A1 for the last year. She's never had a lesson from an adult teacher in her life, yet at her first lesson with me today, she knows about as much as a student who's been studying seriously for four years. All because of what A1 taught her. As a tiny person with very small hands (comfortable reach of about a 7th for you music nerds out there), she can somehow play this song. Beautifully:



House #5: K, age 13, received two male gerbils for Christmas this year. Except that one was a female and got knocked up. The babies were born a week ago, and we spent the first 8 or so minutes looking at baby gerbils. They are tiny, about half the size of my thumb, and just beginning to grow gray fur. All the babies were piled on top of each other in one corner. So cute. Oh, we also played some piano for a minute.

House #6: Oh this family. I love them. Every Tuesday I come to their house at 6:45 pm. And every Tuesday, they forget I'm coming. Today I arrive as they're finishing dinner. M. age 7, asks me if I "notice anything different about his top half." I guess that he got a haircut. His mom calls out from the other room, "Reem, do you think M looks like a girl?" I look at him closely and say "Definitely not." He looks at me doubtfully and informs me that instead of getting his hair cut at his regular barber, he had to go to "a beauty shop." Which meant that he looked like a girl. Of course. At the end of the lesson, the mom gave me two giant cookies; one was chocolate and peanut butter chip, and the other was dark chocolate chip, pecans, and dried cherries. Omg.

House #7: L, age 15, also participated in S&E this weekend. She also got a high 1; she played beautifully. I have videos, but feel funny about posting them on my blog, so message me if you'd like to see them.

Ah, what a lovely day! These kids make everything rule. Thanks for your patience in my Braggy Braggerson writing...sometimes I just feel like the world needs to know about all of these brilliant kids...