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In a message dated 3/12/03 11:22:31 PM, heidi@... writes:

-=-concentrate on the art (and aikido) and let the rest go.-=-

I agree. If not aikido, karate or something. Not the street-fighting
schools (you can tell from their ads and the stuff that will be on the door
or in the front office whether they're teaching from a calm, more spiritual
place, or whether they're kick-boxing afficionados into tournaments and heavy
competition).

<< Go to the museum and
say, "Shoot, you can draw better than that! Maybe you should be a world
famous artist so you can support me in the style to which I'd like to be
accustomed!"
>>

I wouldn't say that last part. It's just one more way to make a kid fail, if
parents say "You could be rich and famous." Having been a kid who got that
kind of pressure regularly, I can say for sure it's irritating and you can
live the rest of your life in the shadow of the imaginary "success" you never
wanted anyway.

But the rest of that advice about a drawing kid seemed wonderful!
Especially, I think, for the mom to draw too, so maybe he can have a chance
to do something with and like her, or maybe even to do something better than
she can. It would help his confidence to see that someone who can do some
things way better can do something worse, too.

Sandra

nellebelle

I was supposed to earn my way through college playing the violin. I played
for 5 years and was pretty good at it, but quit in high school. My memory
of quitting is that I was tired of having to carry the violin around, back
and forth to school and home for practice and use at both places.

Dh says that is ridiculous, that nobody would ever quit for that reason.

The comment below makes me wonder if the pressure to accomplish something
for others was a subconscious factor in my decision to quit. I knew I could
play well, but I certainly wasn't GREAT at it.

Mary Ellen

----- snip----- > I wouldn't say that last part. It's just one more way to
make a kid fail, if
> parents say "You could be rich and famous." Having been a kid who got
that
> kind of pressure regularly, I can say for sure it's irritating and you can
> live the rest of your life in the shadow of the imaginary "success" you
never
> wanted anyway.