With school holidays and visitors in town I haven’t had a proper chance within the last week to sort out many things. To keep up the momentum of my decluttering project, I’ve been throwing out at least some little bits and bobs each day; nothing major to write about though except for the above. A kids’ guitar, holding some fond and not so fond memories.
We got it for our daughter when she turned three. She hadn’t showed interest then into learning to play an instrument, however, as I’ve been growing up surrounded by quite a bit of music and playing instruments, I was keen for her to also enjoy a musical upbringing. She composed her first and only song on it; we think it was punk rock. Then, when her little brother had learned to walk, he started using it for chasing everyone around the house, banging it with great joy onto the floorboard. I couldn’t stand the sound of an instrument being tortured any longer and decided to put it in storage. It was difficult to get rid of it but, I kept on telling myself that it wasn’t a proper instrument, just a toy. Even though it said that it was for young kids, learning to play the guitar, it couldn’t be tuned properly from the very beginning. For months I’ve been telling myself that, to justify throwing out the little guitar, I’d have to replace it with a proper instrument for our family. Finally, last weekend I managed to go to a second-hand instrument shop in Kichijoji (western Tokyo) and found a nice, standard-size guitar. For now, I’m planning to get back into playing. The kids can use it once they show a genuine interest in learning how to play. That’s what the little, red toy guitar has taught me.
katazukete 