Surprised by Beauty

"Love of beauty and the desire to create it is a primalthe desire
instinct of man." Eleanor McMillan BrownThis weekendto master music of magnificent proportion.After
brought me the privilege of chaperoning fortyall-day rehearsals, as well as sectional rehearsals with
musicians to the Catskill Mountains of New York for amaster teachers brought in from New York City, the
youthgroup came
orchestra retreat. Designed as a scenic get-away intogether and practiced one last time, late Saturday
which tonight after
ardently rehearse for an upcoming concert, it proveddinner. As they were tuning, I walked around the room
anmaking sure everyone was comfortable and ready for
exhausting-but delightful-escape withone last practice session. I walked up to my
teens.Considering that I made the preliminaryfifteen-year-old son and twelve-year-old daughter and
arrangements, andwhispered in their ears, "Create Beauty." Fueled with
actually booked the accommodations at the retreatlittle sleep and bad camp food, neither were amused.
center, IBut then the conductor raised his baton, the cute high
thought I had a fairly good idea of what to expect.school senior lifted her flute, and thus began the genius
When theof The Magic Flute. And then the oboist, a highschooler
retreat director described our cabins as "rustic," II had never met before, with a bandana covering her
envisionedhair and too-many earrings covering her left ear, came
cute and cozy. Campy. Kind of with a Ralph Laurenin, followed by the clarinetist, to create extraordinary
meets L.L. Bean thing going on.She greatly oversoldbeauty. And I just sat there, with tears rolling down my
them. I had better luck in third-worldcheeks, an uncontrollable reaction to witnessing
countries. While the kids rehearsed late that first night, Imagnificence.It caught me quite off-guard that these
searched for the cabins in the middle of absolutelykids-dirty from too much
nowhere-pitch dark-with a couple of flashlights, aof the retreat experience and too little of the available
poor-to-scale hand-drawn map, and two very tiredhot
orchestra moms as my only guides. We found thesewater and soap, and sleep-deprived from too much
tarp-roofed,sleeping-bag
-I-mention-no-locks-on-any-doors near midnight after achatter-could produce something so
long three and a half hour drive and a very bad campglorious.Sometimes kids surprise us. Sometimes, after
retreat dinner. We moms thought it would be a goodwe want to wring
idea to locate the cabins and get things "settled in."their necks for their appallingly irresponsible behavior
Mortified when we finally found them by the thought(losing
that these cabins were really "ours," we let out atheir backpacks, forgetting their music, leaving their
half-hour litany of moans and groans, only to decide todirty
make the best of the situation by trying to cozy themdishes for us to clear), they sit down and do the most
up. That literally meantastounding thing. They pick up and instrument and play
turning on the singular light and cranking up the spacesomething
heaterextraordinary. Or they write an essay and it changes
per each cabin.Then came the rain. It started as aour
sprinkle and turned into aworldview. Or they perform ballet with perfect timing.
constant stream, silently but surely soaking theAnd we
hundred-plusscratch our heads and think, "Could this possibly be
suitcases, sleeping-bags and pillows that had beenmy kid?!?"Because just when you're ready to throw in
dumped ontothe towel, throw
the ground (no, dirt) by the camp help. So at nearlyyour hands up in quiet desperation, and pound your
midnight, in the cold downpour of the rain, wefists on the
schlepped forty kids' stufftable in a round of madness, your kids will do
into one of the cabins. It was pitch black, exceptingsomething that
the twowill convince you that they are filled with brilliance. That
puny flashlights and those five measly lightthey possess a hidden gift or an indescribable magic
bulbs.Suffice it to say that the first night wasor a
character-building.hilarious gift of humor or a quick mind or a strong
I had eight twelve-year-old girls in my cabin. Giggly,shoulder or
wantinga gentle spirit.And you are so thrilled to have had
to chat well past "lights out," but with the cutestsome small part of the
tank-top-pajama-bottoms combos I've ever seen, (andcreation.Carolina Fernandez earned an M.B.A. and
more make-up than one could imagine for a weekendworked at IBM and as a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch
retreat in the middle of friggin'nowhere) I had thebefore coming home to work as a wife and mother of
distinct impression that it could be an interesting twofour. She totally re-invented herself along the way.
days.And then came Saturday. And Mozart. Grieg andStrong convictions were born about the role of the
Bizet. Rehearsalarts in child development; ten years of homeschooling
after concentrated rehearsal brought teenager to hisand raising four kids provide fertile soil for devising
instrumentcreative parenting strategies. These are played out in
and magic out of chaos. For somewhere beneath allROCKET MOM! 7 Strategies To Blast You Into
of the acneBrilliance. It is widely available online, in bookstores or
cream and the eyeliner came focus and discipline andthrough 888-476-2493.