One of my students has such an advanced ability for self-critique at the age of 7. She is perfection oriented and the sun doesn't shine when she knows it could be better, when she compares her current output to what she thinks she should be doing. And for me as a teacher, it is a challenge to be in front of her seeing eyes, that everything I might offer is a comment on her playing and on her personally. I've thought to put more love into the lessons, to make it less about the cello and rights and wrongs. And now I'm thinking to take her seriousness very seriously, to meet her where she is, and give her that full respect. But she is young and I don't want to go down a hole that is not yet supported by years of resilience.
I really love her, though. How hard it must be to be a parent and feel such love for your child, in a way they cannot fully understand, because how can one love themselves in such a way? How can a child understand how loved they are, despite all the flaws they see in themselves? How does one help them know it?
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