Daddy!

Daddy can do ANYTHING.

My husband and I are polar opposites in many, many ways.  I was raised a proper violinist, he was .... well, here's a pre-me picture of him in action:

So in our family, the instrumental education has been delegated to me, and the exposure to all things ska, punk, reggae and the drum set in the basement are his department.  The other night I was bragging to him about WonderGirl's awesome piano skills (in her hearing of course) and then brought him up to speed on the things that are trickier for her right now.  She's gone from using just three fingers to all five and it has thrown her 4 year-old self for a loop.

"Hmm..." says the fix-it man that daddy is, and he sat down to the keyboard to try and play WonderGirl's newest song.  She lit up and raced across the room.

"Daddy!!  You're doing it - you're playing my song!!" she squealed.  His piano skills are limited (he played keyboards in a ska band back in high school) but her current music isn't written on a staff and is pretty easy for an adult to pick up instantly.  Spurred on by her excitement, he played a few other songs in her book.  When he was successful, she was bursting with praise, and when he stumbled she loved helping him.  Then she started begging to sit at the piano and play him what she could - it was an impromptu concert that I couldn't have planned better.

The novelty of her non-piano playing father trying to do what she did was incredibly thrilling for her - because as cool as I am, dad playing piano does have that "new" factor I lack.  Plus she adores him.  (Me too - it's nice have that in common:).  If you have a spouse who isn't pulling double duty as their music teacher - have them try playing your child's music.  It'll be a treat for the kid - and gives the other parent a chance to understand and have a respect for their child's latest technical triumphs.