I Never Knew I Loved Classical Music

Or The Things My Children Teach Me

As any parent knows, one of the delights of parenthood is learning along with your kids. As they excitedly share their interests, I am excited to learn, too. (With some exceptions — I’m looking at you, Pokemon.)

Lately, my 13-year-old is fascinated by paradoxes. He spends an inordinate amount of time patiently explaining them to my aging brain. His favorite: There is a red button and a blue button. The blue button says that the red button is false, and the red button says the blue button is true. You’d be surprised at the discussions this can generate. I take complete delight in how he stretches my mind in a new way.

Math is another great love of my son’s, especially googology (the study of large numbers). For 53 years, I lived in ignorance of the googolplex. How wonderful to find an entire field of study that I never even knew existed.

Then there are the things that become my passions, too — things I never knew were missing in my life until they are suddenly there, thanks to a child. My daughter plays the piano. As she practices several times a day, our house is filled with classical music — something I never really explored before. I didn’t know I needed classical music, but, apparently, I do (or maybe it is just her performance of it that I need).

When we go on vacation and don’t have a piano nearby, I miss her playing with an ache in my heart. I’m not the type of parent who wills their children to stop growing, but I confess that I already dread the day she leaves home, taking her music with her.

Guess I’ll have to learn piano.