From one extreme to the other.

We are breaking the camping transmission for a music update because Wednesday night was our first really truely ensemble workout.



I am sooo out of my depth & God has kept me nicely blinded as I would never have got into this if I'd known. Anyways, the first hour is the theory. Not Ditz's thing & threw her for a loop as apparently she needs a workbook. We checked & it's not on the list of things we had to buy. Everyone else of course had come straight from school so had paper so I told Ditz just to use the back of her information sheet.


I parked myself out of the way with a book, only one ear sort of on the proceedings because this is Ditz's special thing & mummy involvement not wanted. Then I hear 'Mozart' mentioned. My attention is all on Alison now but I keep my eyes glued to my book. Then I hear THE QUESTION. 'Can anyone sing any Mozart?' By now my eyes are glued on Ditz. I know she can sing Mozart. Ditz singing Mozart has been the bane of my life for years but putting herself forward is actually not at all Ditz so I'm watching her like a hawk & oh my gosh! Yes, her hand is actually sort of waggling round about ear level. Yikes! Hers is the only hand, however tentative. I know what Alison's going to say next & she says it. I thought Ditz might back out at this point but she wiggles a little straighter in her chair (she knows as well as I do she's going to need air for this & Alison's big on posture.) & she lets rip. Alison's jaw just about hits the floor. What Ditz was singing was part of the Night Queen's aria from the Magic Flute, which has always charmed her. She is nervous so she's a little off pitch on her high notes but she does a pretty good job. I am trying very hard not to laugh because I know Ditz really doesn't have much of a clue. She knows the name of the opera but no more of the aria than the short segment in Amadeus. Just the same Mozart is Alison's favourite composer & Ditz has totally wowed her as her Monday night's group of adults hadn't produced a single person who could sing a Mozart anything!


Here endedth the mummy brag. I can see Ditz is going to actually struggle with the theory. She's not all that interested & her ADD starts kicking in, plus she's never had to sit in a classroom so the whole notetaking thing is new to her. Practise at home coming up. It was on the agenda for this year anyway; I just have to move it forward a bit. At least being there I know to fill in the gaps.


When the class breaks I go to pick Liddy up for soccer & get back to Ditz as they are running through one of the classical pieces they may do with TTT. Ditz is singing seconds next to one of the boys & she is singing in German! Her choice. Three years of German tutoring seems to be paying dividends.

Ditz has worked really hard but we go down to the soccer pitch to wait for Liddy so we can all go home together. Soccer is not the rich side of town & there are all sorts rattling round in the clubhouse as I get us some drinks & we settle in to watch other people training. I know lots of the girls from previous years & Liddy is surprisingly happy to introduce us to everyone. Ditz has been stealing her thunder a little recently but Liddy is at the point where she is working steadily towards her goal while Ditz is just beginning & we are still trying to sort everything out while not becoming overwhelmed in the process. My system is in shock & later this morning we island hop for Ditz's first flute lesson. Now that should be interesting...