the_child was part of the middle grades spring concert tonight. She and her classmates in the fifth grade performed two string pieces (the_child plays cello), then came back later as a choir for three vocal pieces. This class is both energetic and good. Fourth and sixth grades also performed, then after a quartet of three high school students and one of the music teachers. The lead violinist is a kid I expect to see at Carnegie Hall in a few more years. Not good, not even gifted. Brilliant. It was funny looking at the fifth and sixth graders, in that I can see the social types emerging. Geeks and jocks and stoners and beauty queens all nascent in those lengthening faces and self-conscious eyes. The only one I can't see is my own child, because my filters for her are too strong.
Afterwards, in the car on the way home, she had questions about dating rules, followed by a detailed disquisition on the dynamics of the fifth grade girls' friendships and rivalries. I did a good job of neither laughing nor being visibly appalled at turns.
Love that kid.
| Originally published at jlake.com. |