How I whupped an early 5-year-old music student into submission today.

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He was a new student. I could tell he had just woken up. His mom said, in English, Are you ready for your piano lesson? He said, No I want to do nothing. He looked miserable. She said, Do you want to go to the car and go home? We can come back next week. He said, No! I want to do nothing. I said, How old are you? He said he was five. His mom told me that he had just tuned five. Young for music lessons, but in my wheelhouse as a child psychologist. After about three minutes of this kind of thing, I invited his mom and younger brother into the music room to show them the pianos. The younger brother was released from his stroller and enjoyed hearing Mary Had a Little Lamb and banging on the piano. The older child continued to say, I want to do nothing. I finally sat down on the floor and said, I sometimes want to do nothing. When I go hiking, I like to sit by a stream and listen to the birds and squirrels and see the green trees and and do nothing. I look like this. I saw his eyes soften. There was eye-contact. I almost had him. He smiled, as if he understood me. But when his mom asked him again if he wanted a lesson, he said, No! I want nothing! When she started to snap the younger child back into his stroller (he was about 30-months-old) he (the younger child) threw a tantrum, kicking his feet.He had been enjoying the music. She started talking to both of the kids in what sounded like Arabic. But the younger child had been handling a red kid marker. I said, Many of our kid markers do not work. Let me see if this one works. I drew a dot, and then a smiley face, on my hand. The older boy smiled and made eye-contact with me again. The mom took the kids to the car, and I prepered to "work" the back room and ty to sell a guitar or two. Five minutes later, they were back The older boy had changed his mind. He wanted a lesson. I taught him Mary Had a Little Lamb and the ABC Song in C. He even played it with his fingers spread out, as I told him I would ask him to do one day. They left happy. The mom thanked me in English, and headed off. I hope they come back next week.