My seven year old boy has been learning the violin for a year - and I'm constantly apologising for it, thanks to attitudes like that above (sorry morningpaper, but you've hit a nerve!). He's learning because he wants to, it was entirely his idea, and he loves it! From 2 1/2 to 6 he went to a music and play class (singing songs, clapping, marching and jingling bells - great fun, no pressure and NO "jazz hands"!), which we kept up for so long because it was his favourite thing of the week, and because I enjoyed the natter and the coffee with the other mums in the waiting room. The classes end at age 6, at which point the teacher brought in a load of different instruments for the kids to have a shot at. To my surprise, ds took one look at a violin, begged to be allowed to hold it, and fell deeply in love. I am not at all musical - although I'd love to be. DH is, but is more electric guitar and Thin Lizzy than violin and Bach, so it certainly wasn't based on parental pressure or expectations. Yes, it costs us 13.00 a week in lessons, and we've had to buy a violin, but it's been wonderful for his confidence, and his concentration, and he loves every minute of it. He is not a child prodigy, is unlikely to make a living at it, and when he was invited to join a youth orchestra this year, he and I discussed it and decided to leave it a year and rethink it, as we both wanted him to have enough time just for play. He does it for fun, because he finds music deeply interesting, and because he gets a lot of satisfaction out of it.
What I want to know is this - why do people assume that certain hobbies (like a musical instrument) are based on parental aspirations, while others, like football, are entirely the child's own idea? I know several little boys who have been made miserable by their dad's insistence that they will play football at the age of 5, going to training twice a week and to a game at the weekend with said Dad shouting from the sidelines ... why is this perfectly acceptable, when learning and enjoying music is not? (And before you jump to any conclusions, my son is also very sporty!)
I think I smell some inverted snobbery...!