Notes from 13 Aug

Summer holiday childcare duty today with both the great nephs, M (10) and G (6). Given the heat and the inevitability of them getting frustrated with each other after a period of time we stuck on a movie. And then I did a jigsaw with G while introducing him to the music of Steve Reich, which seemed to calm him down. He’s very much at the “is it ADHD or is he just six?” stage and I had a feeling repetitive minimalist percussion might work. My mum was very much a classical music person and my step-dad is an orchestra conductor so I grew up around musical scores and the like. I never really clicked with their stuff and so while I have a musical ear I’ve never done anything with it. Which was fine, but I do have a mild resentment that despite being of that world they never introduced me to the more modern, avant guard stuff which I’m sure I would have loved. By the time I realised it existed it was probably too late for me to be anything more than a casual listener, but maybe, if I’d been…