One Day at Piano Lessons.....

This is an excerpt from a BAD Times that never got emailed because I never finished writing down the week. The BAD Times is written in 3rd person, and I do try to let people mentioned edit; but since this is mostly about me, I think its okay to post.

Mondays are Franklin’s piano lesson. Mom knows from experience that it is much easier to be patient with someone else’s child, but that still doesn’t contain her explosive, “Just do what I tell you, okay?”

Franklin had been doing pretty well, his musical infraction was minor and both he and Mom know it. Mom puts her face in her hands while Franklin crumples his and the tears start rolling. (Mom is pretty sure Kristi can relate.) “Dear God,” prays Mom silently, “How do I get myself out of this one?” She spots the bowl of Reese’s pieces on the chair beside her which are a strong incentive added recently to sweeten up lessons for Franklin, who gets a piece every time he passes off a song or works through a difficult passage. “Here,” she says, handing him the bowl, “take two on me.”

Franklin’s tears dry up and Mom says, “Let’s try this again.” She continues in an extra sweet voice, “What is the letter name of that note?” “E,” says Franklin, equally high and sweet. And so it continues.

A song or two later, Franklin is stacking up his Reese’s pieces thinking about things. He turns to Mom with a wicked grin. “Yell at me again, Mom!” he says, misquoting Roald Dahl’s Matilda, “Just yell at me, okay?”