on (music) lessons

"If you don't practice your violin (flute, trumpet, piano...), there will be no lessons anymore!"
There are two general kinds of response to this "promise": "Whatever!" or "Please, mommy, don't take me out of my trumpet (bassoon, clarinet) class!"

Most parents that I talked to would cancel classes in this situation. Some would then move on to a next thing, try to battle with their child over practice, effort, motivation, and then cancel again.

I always wondered, how many classes or activities an average child would "sail" through in the course of his or her childhood? Who would decide on the interest that "needs" pursuing: a parent or a child? Should we impose educational or recreational commitments on our kids, or is it better to let them look around, become interested (or not) in something, explore it and, may be, ask us for help and support in learning more?

With my two kids i had a chance to respond differently to each of them when time came to decide on the "future" of the lessons. One of them was fine with stopping the classes, even though she was the one who begged me to start. Another begged me not to stop! My idea of "no practice - no lessons" prevailed first time that we stopped his lessons. I say first time, because then we started again! This time it required an adjustment of my attitude towards practice. Seeing my kid who wanted to take this class with this favourite teacher, made me "break down".
I told myself that whether or not he practices, we will continue with the lessons, because it was beneficial to my son's education! It was me who had to change! He continued happily taking his lessons and in the end of the year we played a duet together at his recital.

If this experience taught me anything, it is that our approaches are different for each child, and that things change, and it is good to be accepting. In my case, it was a change in my own attitude!