Aaron's Talent

Aaron was just doing something that amazed me, made me proud, and frustrated me, all at the same time...

A little background first...He received a Fender Squire Mini electric guitar from Santa when he was in 1st grade.  He began taking lessons that January. Things were tough at first when he was just beginning to learn and I would have to force him to practice.  Then, as he got better, he started learning music that he really liked and would just pick up his guitar and play for fun. I didn't have to make him do it anymore. Of course, he did this much more often during the summer when he didn't have a ton of homework everyday, so he had more free time.  His abilities amazed me and inspired me to begin taking lessons too.  After I began lessons, I had even a greater admiration for his talent.

You see, he would do his 30 minute lesson and learn a new song. His teacher would usually write down the tab for whatever song he was learning, but once he got home, he would never bother looking at the music. In those short 30 minutes, he had the song memorized.  So after a while, his teacher just stopped writing down the tab.  I kept telling Aaron he should still have him write down the tab because over time, he will forget the music and wish he had something to look at.

Then, he quit guitar lessons. He had so much going on this year, and was getting frustrated that he had no free time, and was getting a little bored with guitar lessons because his teacher was having him practice scales instead of actual songs. So before Christmas, he stopped his lessons.  I was a heartbroken, but also relieved. I am very much a taxi-cab mom and have at least one kid activity every single weekday. So I was glad to not have to take Aaron to his guitar lesson, but sad because I so enjoyed hearing and watching him play, and because I really do believe he has such a gift.  I kept thinking that he would still play his guitar, pick it up and just play for fun and not because he had to practice. But he has only done that once, and that was only to get out of reading.

So that brings me to today.  We have been working really hard on cleaning the kids' rooms. And not just their floors, but the dressers and desks and bookcases, which all seem to become catch-alls for anything that they aren't quite sure where it goes.  In fact, after many hours and lots of tears and sweat, we are still working on Sadie's, but part of that is because we ended up having to do the closet to (because we couldn't get in there to put anything up...yikes!). Anyways, while I was working with Sadie, I hear Aaron start playing his guitar.  Sweet music to my ears. And he wasn't just picking a few chords or idly strumming. No. He was playing Sweet Child of Mine. A song he learned two years ago or more, and hasn't played in forever. And yet he was able to pick up his guitar and remembered the entire thing. Then he played Party Rock and another song.

Like I said, he amazed me and made me proud to be his mom. He has such a tremendous talent. But he frustrates me that he doesn't practice more often. And that he really doesn't show any real interest in it usually.  Perhaps he just needed a few months away from it. Hopefully he will start playing more and more often.  For now, I think I will just be glad that God has blessed him with such a great gift!