The Key to Piano Lessons
A few months back at the Mom 2.0 Summit in Houston , I gathered a bunch of highly relevant info. About life online, optimizing your business, making money via blogging, building relationships with companies, and PR people, and how much I adore my fellow mom blogging community. Little did I know I’d also learn that it pays to give your kids piano lessons and to encourage them (OK, make them) stick with it at all costs. For their own good, of course.
Getting a sneak peak into a new project from the legendary Yanni (yes ladies, he’s back—actually, as I have found out, he never really left) we had a non-mom, handsome young guest come to charm us right out of our nursing bras. We’ll at least some of us; myself not included. It was one of the other voices from the Yanni Voices Tour. Although I did not opt to offer this fine young man my bra, I was in awe of his voice, his poise and his ability to keep blushing to a minimum while being ogled by a room full of cat-calling women. Poor kid. He kept his cool and sang a cappella, answered questions and even had the heart to stick around to give out autographs. All that with grace and finesse. Nathan Pacheco is top notch in my book.
Beyond the song he shared with us, what stuck with me were his comments about his mother and how she was the key to his success; always encouraging him, guiding him along his path and from what I could tell, keeping him in piano lessons (whether he liked it or not). A mom after my own heart!
When the time came to get autographs I waited in line only to plead with him, ‘would you please write a note to my daughter urging her to stick with her piano lessons?” The other moms around me giggled and commended me (and him) for the effort. He graciously humored me. I figured it might help encourage her but I knew that the chances were I’d get nothing more than a good old tween eye-rolling when I got home with the note. I grabbed one of Nathan’s promo cards to add to the credibility of things. He was famous after-all. And really, really cute. It couldn’t hurt.
Turns out the gesture was very well-received. I told her about meeting Nathan and shared his story. That he’s performing now internationally, he’s on TV (that’s a big one when you’re 11), and that he didn’t always like piano lessons either BUT he was now happy his mom made him stick with it. And then I handed her the note and said that he had a special message for her. She read his words addressed to her, “I want you to keep up that piano, ya hear!! With love, Nathan.”
There was no eye-rolling. Instead she broke out in a huge smile, cheeks flushed with flattery and said “Really, for me?”
A few days later the note was pinned to her bulletin board sharing the spotlight with her other important mementos. A “Certificate of Merit” from middle-school, her first place fair ribbons and the coveted photo I took when she met Miley Cyrus among others. Proof enough that sometimes it takes a good-looking famous young man who can sing opera in Italian to get your kids to listen. Hey, whatever it takes.
This is an orignal post for LA Moms Blog by Tracey Clark who is most likely either plucking away on her wireless keyboard or clicking away with her digital SLR.
