It had been a while since Miles, my 3 year old grandson, has been over, so yesterday he wandered into my small studio with me, the helicopter grandparent, right on his heels. He immediately walked over to my banjo on its stand... touching the strings hesitantly and oozing innocence, he looked up at me with those big blue eyes... "Banjo?" he asked. He doesn't make too many complete sentences yet and even though he had seen it before, he wanted to know if he remembered the word right. "Yep", I said, " That my banjo, you want me to play it for you?" I always try to get him to hear different types of music. He squealed and swung his fingers across the strings and clapped his hands at the prospect... I took that as a yes. I haven't been playing much lately due to arthritis flair ups, so I was a little rusty and wasn't sure what I could do, but for him I would try anything. He watched intently as I threw the strap over my shoulder and put the metal finger picks on my fingers. His face beamed when I strummed the strings and did a few runs. The sound of a banjo up close is actually pretty loud, so I stepped back from him a few steps. I hit a few licks of Cripple Creek and was rewarded with clapping, giggles and the biggest smile in the world. Miles immediate approval was all I needed. I started playing slow and was surprised how well my fingers were working. Within a minute I was head down, depending on my muscle memory, lost in the rhythm and grooving to a down-home, barn lifting, foot tapping flame throwing bluegrass song...completely lost in how easy the music came back to me and how much I was enjoying playing for my grandson. Being so lost in the music, with my head down looking at my fretboard, I sorta forgot about Miles. Looking up, I saw him standing in front of me. Both of his index fingers were stuck in both of his ears. He couldn't hear a thing. He was shutting me out! He had a look of 'ok, enough'. Huh? Say what? Evidently he wasn't impressed with the effort I was taking to entertain him. Jees. Humbled, I stopped playing, put the banjo on its' stand, took his hand and led him to the kitchen... where I proceeded to buy his love with two oatmeal pies and a glass of milk. (The photo is him eating the last pie and Bella waiting for a possible crumb) Don't ever get to big for your britches...kids will put you in your place in a heartbeat. I love that boy...
SannaBlue
WHAT WOULD YOU DO FOR YOUR GRANDKIDS?
It had been a while since Miles, my 3 year old grandson, has been over, so yesterday he wandered into my small studio with me, the helicopter grandparent, right on his heels.
He immediately walked over to my banjo on its stand... touching the strings hesitantly and oozing innocence, he looked up at me with those big blue eyes...
"Banjo?" he asked.
He doesn't make too many complete sentences yet and even though he had seen it before, he wanted to know if he remembered the word right.
"Yep", I said, " That my banjo, you want me to play it for you?" I always try to get him to hear different types of music.
He squealed and swung his fingers across the strings and clapped his hands at the prospect...
I took that as a yes.
I haven't been playing much lately due to arthritis flair ups, so I was a little rusty and wasn't sure what I could do, but for him I would try anything.
He watched intently as I threw the strap over my shoulder and put the metal finger picks on my fingers. His face beamed when I strummed the strings and did a few runs. The sound of a banjo up close is actually pretty loud, so I stepped back from him a few steps.
I hit a few licks of Cripple Creek and was rewarded with clapping, giggles and the biggest smile in the world. Miles immediate approval was all I needed.
I started playing slow and was surprised how well my fingers were working. Within a minute I was head down, depending on my muscle memory, lost in the rhythm and grooving to a down-home, barn lifting, foot tapping flame throwing bluegrass song...completely lost in how easy the music came back to me and how much I was enjoying playing for my grandson.
Being so lost in the music, with my head down looking at my fretboard, I sorta forgot about Miles.
Looking up, I saw him standing in front of me.
Both of his index fingers were stuck in both of his ears.
He couldn't hear a thing. He was shutting me out!
He had a look of 'ok, enough'.
Huh? Say what?
Evidently he wasn't impressed with the effort I was taking to entertain him. Jees.
Humbled, I stopped playing, put the banjo on its' stand, took his hand and led him to the kitchen... where I proceeded to buy his love with two oatmeal pies and a glass of milk.
(The photo is him eating the last pie and Bella waiting for a possible crumb)
Don't ever get to big for your britches...kids will put you in your place in a heartbeat.
I love that boy...
1 year ago | [YT] | 4