7.11.2007

Our little princesses

Last night we went to a concert in the park to hear the New York Philharmonic. It started at 8pm, only an hour after the kids' bedtime. All things considering, they did pretty well--sitting "still" for 4 hours, maintaining some level of peace for the surrounding listeners. This experience confirmed our suspicions that Arthur is a potential musician. He listened intently (for a kid) and wanted to know which instrument produced each section of music. He often recognizes a trumpet (used for any brass) and is getting better with the violin (any stringed). He has always been very concerned to learn every note and word of the silly songs that we sing, where Adaline just sings them freely and without precision. Both kids enjoy conducting--something they imitate from a Little Einstein's video. There was also some interesting interpretive dancing thrown in the mix...

We persevered through the evening mainly because we wanted the kids to see the fireworks show after the concert. The kids have never seen fireworks before because they've only seen the dark a handful of times. It was a fun parenting experience to see their reactions. Adaline's eyes and mouth were wide open in amazement for the first few minutes, and Arthur kept saying, "They're so beautiful!"

One of my favorite things about having kids is that you rediscover things in life that have become normal and uninteresting. Seen through the eyes of a child, everything has potential for excitement. Riding the bus or train or ferry (a recent adventure of ours) is mundane for a typical New Yorker, but an adventure for kids. I love that I'm more interested in watching the expressions on my children's faces than the fireworks that they are discovering.


2 comments:

Goes On Runs said...

looks like a cool night!

Carolyn & Tim Hunter said...

arthur was completely captivated by the music, it was so cute to see. he was so intent. it will be cool to see how that develops! i was glad you guys were there. and made adaline share a cookie with me. :)