Annabelle started her eagerly anticipated violin lessons today. She and Henry have been talking about violins for months. They put a chopstick under their chin and play it with another chopstick. Everytime I’ve told her I want her to take piano lessons, she says no, she wants to take violin. And so, I bought her a violin yesterday, and she was elated. She got a polish cloth for it and keeps asking me if she can dust it. She carries it around in its case and opens it like it’s the holy grail, gently pulling it out of its purple velvet bed with great reverence.
Henry and I sat on the violin teacher’s couch and watched Annabelle’s lesson.
The teacher, Ms. Sarah, told Annabelle her pointer finger was called “Lazy Larry Pointer.” Annabelle told her “My Grandpa is really funny, and one time he put a hat with flowers on his head and said “I’m not Grandpa, I’m Larry”. My Grandma is really funny too. One time I said, ‘Can I have a glass of milk Grandma?’ and she said, ‘I’m not Grandma, I’m a leprechaun.'”
I’m always curious to know the reaction of adults to the stories the kids tell. Ms. Sarah just nodded and asked Annabelle if she could guess what the chin rest was for on the violin.
Annabelle said, “Hmmm, your leg? Or maybe your bottom?” She was very surprised to find out it was for her chin.
Every time the teacher pointed out the “frog” on the violin, Henry yelled from the couch, “Frog say Ribit!” and then tried to frog hop.
We decided it would be worth it to have the teacher come to our house next time.
When we got home, Henry went to sleep early–no nap–so Annabelle and I got to spend a little time together. She wanted to eat graham crackers and milk like she does with her Grandpa every night when we’re in Utah. She said, “What do you want to talk about Mom? I’ll give you your choices. We can talk about Disneyworld, my birthday, Halloween, or Christmas.”I said, “What do you talk about when you eat crackers with Grandpa?” She said, “We usually read the funnies. Do you know why they call them the funnies? Because they’re supposed to be funny. But Grandpa says they should really be called the Dummies because they’re so dumb.”
I can’t wait to see if the kids remember these stories of their grandparents when they grow up. My Grandfather never put on a flowered hat and told me his name was Larry.
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