Happy Listening ...

 

I am very much enjoying watching my two girls grow up. They are 12 and 10 years old now, and Himi, the older of the two, recently crossed over into a new 'stage', and the suddenness with which it happened took me quite by surprise. The two of them share a room together, and about a year ago I bought a small CD/Radio/Cassette player for their desk, so that they could enjoy listening to music. I was thinking back to my own teen years, when listening to music was a very important part of my life. It was a bit of a disappointment to me when neither of them showed much interest in my idea. When they were much younger, we had always filled the house with children's music, and they had learned all the standard kid's songs, but this time ... they just didn't seem to be interested.

I didn't worry about this, and actually was a bit relieved that my peace and quiet wasn't going to be disturbed. But then suddenly just last Saturday, right out of the blue, Himi went out and bought her first CD, and has been playing it endlessly every since. Some kind of switch inside her head must have flipped over, and now there'll be no end to it ...

Are you curious about her first choice? It was a collection of songs by Nakajima Miyuki, and luckily for me, this particular music seems basically listenable, but now I'm living in fear ... Soon she will start to explore more kinds of music, and I'm sure it won't be long before she starts playing things I can't stand!

But I remember well the pleasure I got from music during that part of my life, and I won't discourage her. I'll just grit my teeth, and look forward to those delicious hours of silence when she's out at school, or tucked quietly in bed!

Happy listening, Himi-chan!