“What If…”

What if your child wants to play an instrument and you know nothing about music and instruments? This is out of my comfort zone, the position I found myself last week in when my son started attending flute classes. This is the instrument he chose after finishing a year-long roundabout where he tried out six different instruments.

I was advised that for him to progress faster, I needed to buy him a flute. As a parent in the unknown, I did all the research I possibly could online, asked a composer friend for guidance, checked out shop reviews and embarked on an hour-long journey across London to find the perfect shop that could sell us the perfect flute.

Luckily we found both, a lovely, friendly shop in Croydon and, for that I can only hope, a good flute with a terrific deal. So the Saturday spent in the car was worth the effort.

That very evening, while tossing and turning restlessly in bed, I had this revelation that to keep up with my son’s education and growth I need to keep learning and growing, just not to stay behind.

So now on my agenda, apart from doing my regular job and looking after my son, there is also keeping up with his musical education. If he is to become a musician, I can’t possibly be the idiot mother who doesn’t understand what her child is talking about.