This is the story of a fourth grade boy who wanted to play an instrument. When the time came to write down his 3 choices, the flute was his first choice(hey no jokes, I dated a guy in high school who played flute.) We got word yesterday that he got his first choice. He was thrilled and I was on a mission.
Way back in the day, I played flute and two of my sisters played flute. Was it possible that this flute was still kicking around at my mother's house?
Sure enough, a quick phone call to my mother revealed that it was. There was just one more hurdle to overcome. Any instruments that weren't rented or bought from one of the three specified companies that the school dealt with had to be inspected and approved by the band teacher.
Rob left the house with flute in backpack. I always felt this was the perk of playing flute, it was small and easy to carry. Perhaps that's the wrong reason to choose an instrument...
Rob came home with good news, my old flute passed inspection. It just needs a bit of a tune up to get it back into playing condition. So let's see which would I rather pay, $20-$95 to have our flute refurbished or $31/month rental fee for the entire school year? In case you're unsure I'll give you a hint, we just got back from the music repair shop a few minutes ago.
So if your kid is at that age, ask around to see if someone might have an instrument taking up space in their attic that your child could use. If your child loves the instrument then you need to talk about a more permanent arrangement. Make sure you know if the instrument has been given to you or loaned to you.
BTW, while we're on the subject of borrowing stuff, be a good borrower. Always return whatever you borrow in good condition. For example, if you borrow a car, return it with a full tank of gas.
Here's another real life example. My brother and his wife stored two bikes with us for the last four or five years and during that time they said we were welcome to use them. My kids used them a lot. This summer they're planning to take them back. But before they do, we opted to have them tuned up and have a flat tire fixed (with coupons at our local bike shop the flat fix was free and the tune up was very reasonable.) Did I have to do that no but I feel better knowing the bikes are in good working order. I'm a borrower, not a moocher!
2 comments:
i'm the same way, i figure if i'm a great borrower, people will beg me to borrow their stuff....
ex: we needed a chain saw, my dh's grandfather has one, called and he said his son (dh's father) had it, we took it, would cut through butter, took it to a retiree who does this on the side 15$ later it purrrrred, full tune up....we handed it to Pepere, the grandfather telling him how we tuned it up, he would have been livid to see it in the condition it was in...
i also have my flute, i hope to pick it up again...or maybe dd will.....
Celina in Canada
I have such a hard time borrowing things because I'm sure they'll get ruined! I try to read books without bending the spine, etc, but it's so hard. I usually end up just buying what I want second hand, it's more for the peace of mind than anything!
Ruthie
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