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What do your kids see?

My wife copied me with her e-mail quote-of-the-day yesterday: "Don't worry that children never listen to you. Worry that they are always watching you."

As the father of a sixteen-month-old, I have certainly learned that my son watches me closely. It didn't take him long to figure out that the big button on the front of the television will turn it on. Now the battle will be to convince him not to reach for the volume knob on the audio equipment.

Of course, I've resolved to be careful about the little things, like showing my temper or yelling at the dog. But I'm sure my son is going to learn a lot of things from my behavior that I don't consciously think about. Hopefully he learns more good than bad, but I don't think he will be blind to either.

In thinking about this, I started to wonder what he will learn as he watches me get farther and farther into this crazy audio hobby. Will it be good? Bad? Or will it have no noticeable effect on him at all?

I'm curious what those of you with kids have seen over the years. How have your kids responded to your love of music, your love of equipment, and your pursuit of sonic nirvana?

Have they learned to love music? Care for equipment? Or have they picked up some of the more negative traits of audiophiles?
swingman

Showing 1 response by albertporter

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albertporter
4,949 posts
 
I always let my son sit and listen with me, even when he was a baby. He learned to operate the equipment not long after he could walk. I never told him "no," instead I showed him how everything worked and helped him.

The only off limits thing was the electrical outlets and the cables running to them. One day he crawled over to one of my dedicated lines and stared at the outlet. I crawled over beside him like a giant child and stared too. He looked at me and began to laugh ( I can still see his face in my mind !) I pointed at the wall covering near the outlet and calmly said, "cold." He smiled. Then I pointed to the openings leading inside the outlet and said. "Hot." He immediately drew his hands back to his chest, the same pose he made when he thought his dinner was too hot.

May sound silly, but they are smarter than you imagine. Just get them to understand with a little patience and love and they will not only learn, they will help you later on.

Last week he paused his computer game to help me move my new Soundlabs. For those unfamiliar with teenage boys passion for computers, you cannot fully appreciate this situation.
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