Guitar

On our way back from The Old Town School of Folk Music, I asked Elijah if he liked guitar class.

“Not really,” was his reply.

“What?  No.  That’s not how this works.  The entire reason you can’t catch a ball is so you can become a great musician.  That’s how you are going to get girls.  You have to be into this.  That’s how life is supposed to work out.  You play guitar.”

I thought that.  What I said was, “Oh bummer.  Do you want Starbucks?”

Eli approaches his guitar lessons in the same way he approaches trips to the grocery store: keep your mouth shut and do what dad says and you can get a treat. 

But I don’t get it, everything is set up for him to love his class.  Diana bought him a kick ass guitar.  His instructor is this really mellow guy of indeterminate race who clearly likes Eli the best in class.  How do I know?  He said, “Hey Eli.  I like your guitar.”  What more evidence do you need?

He may be rejecting guitar because every time he catches his father’s eye through the classroom window, his father gives him a maniacal smile and thumbs up.  Or he may be rejecting guitar because his father insists on playing along with him as he practices.  Adding unnecessary flourishes to “Apples and Bananas.“ Or it may be because his father insists we are totally starting a band.  And calls it “Rickford and Sons.” 

Well, I still have Luca.  Luca loves going to the Old Town School of Folk Music.  Mostly because he doesn’t actually have to attend any classes.  He spends most of the time playing with the air dryers in the men’s room.  Elijah may not ever be able to tell a G chord from a C, but Luca is quickly becoming a virtuoso at the Dyson AirBlade.

Luca also loves joining in on our jam sessions.  While I was forcing Eli to play “Happy Birthday” for the fifth time, Luca announced he had created another song based on the Transformers.  The chorus was repeating the words “Rescue Bots” over and over.

We may have to be called “Rickford and Son.”