Maybe She Won't...

I've always wondered if my children would end up wanting to play the violin at some point, because of being around me while I play it. There would never be ANY pressure for them to do any activity that wasn't a desire of their own, but I have thought it could be a fun thing and we would save some money on paying for private lessons! Well, today made me think twice!
Throughout my pregnancy, I played numerous times so Naomi could hear the violin in utero. Since she was born, however, I have hardly touched the thing. BIG mistake.
This afternoon, I tuned my violin up and thought I'd entertain Naomi a bit. While I was tuning the strings, she started making a loud whining noise and her eyes looked fearful - like how she sometimes gets when I run the vacuum. I thought to myself that she'd probably like it once I was playing actual music (she loves music and dancing). Nope. I kid you not, by the third note of "Mary Had A Little Lamb," my child was FREAKING OUT. First of all, we rarely see her cry. Secondly, I could not believe how quickly she worked herself up.

Huge tears.

Red face.

Shaking.

It was quite sad. For both of us. Obviously, I stopped on the word "Little" and swept her up. She just kept crying and considering how little I played, it took her a while to gather herself. Poor thing. I think I'm going to try again with my mute on (as common sense would tell, a mute cuts the volume of a violin in half at least) and see if that's not as scary to her. If that doesn't work, I might have to just play during her naps for a while. :(