| "Love of beauty and the desire to create it | | | | cream and the eyeliner came focus and |
| is a primal instinct of man." Eleanor | | | | discipline and the desire |
| McMillan BrownThis weekend brought me the | | | | |
| privilege of chaperoning forty | | | | to master music of magnificent |
| | | | proportion.After all-day rehearsals, as well |
| musicians to the Catskill Mountains of New | | | | as sectional rehearsals with |
| York for a youth | | | | |
| | | | master teachers brought in from New York |
| orchestra retreat. Designed as a scenic | | | | City, the group came |
| get-away in which to | | | | |
| | | | together and practiced one last time, late |
| ardently rehearse for an upcoming concert, | | | | Saturday night after |
| it proved an | | | | |
| | | | dinner. As they were tuning, I walked around |
| exhausting-but delightful-escape with | | | | the room making sure everyone was comfortable |
| teens.Considering that I made the preliminary | | | | and ready for one last practice session. I |
| arrangements, and | | | | walked up to my fifteen-year-old son and |
| | | | twelve-year-old daughter and whispered in |
| actually booked the accommodations at the | | | | their ears, "Create Beauty." Fueled with |
| retreat center, I | | | | little sleep and bad camp food, neither were |
| | | | amused. But then the conductor raised his |
| thought I had a fairly good idea of what to | | | | baton, the cute high school senior lifted her |
| expect. When the | | | | flute, and thus began the genius of The Magic |
| | | | Flute. And then the oboist, a highschooler I |
| retreat director described our cabins as | | | | had never met before, with a bandana covering |
| "rustic," I envisioned | | | | her hair and too-many earrings covering her |
| | | | left ear, came in, followed by the |
| cute and cozy. Campy. Kind of with a Ralph | | | | clarinetist, to create extraordinary beauty. |
| Lauren meets L.L. Bean thing going on.She | | | | And I just sat there, with tears rolling down |
| greatly oversold them. I had better luck in | | | | my cheeks, an uncontrollable reaction to |
| third-world | | | | witnessing magnificence.It caught me quite |
| | | | off-guard that these kids-dirty from too much |
| countries. While the kids rehearsed late | | | | |
| that first night, I | | | | of the retreat experience and too little of |
| | | | the available hot |
| searched for the cabins in the middle of | | | | |
| absolutely nowhere-pitch dark-with a couple | | | | water and soap, and sleep-deprived from too |
| of flashlights, a poor-to-scale hand-drawn | | | | much sleeping-bag |
| map, and two very tired orchestra moms as my | | | | |
| only guides. We found these tarp-roofed, | | | | chatter-could produce something so |
| no-mattress-bunks-with-little-heat-and-bad-li | | | | glorious.Sometimes kids surprise us. |
| ghting-and-did-I-mention-no-locks-on-any-door | | | | Sometimes, after we want to wring |
| s near midnight after a long three and a half | | | | |
| hour drive and a very bad camp retreat | | | | their necks for their appallingly |
| dinner. We moms thought it would be a good | | | | irresponsible behavior (losing |
| idea to locate the cabins and get things | | | | |
| "settled in." Mortified when we finally found | | | | their backpacks, forgetting their music, |
| them by the thought that these cabins were | | | | leaving their dirty |
| really "ours," we let out a half-hour litany | | | | |
| of moans and groans, only to decide to make | | | | dishes for us to clear), they sit down and |
| the best of the situation by trying to cozy | | | | do the most astounding thing. They pick up |
| them up. That literally meant | | | | and instrument and play something |
| | | | |
| turning on the singular light and cranking | | | | extraordinary. Or they write an essay and it |
| up the space heater | | | | changes our |
| | | | |
| per each cabin.Then came the rain. It | | | | worldview. Or they perform ballet with |
| started as a sprinkle and turned into a | | | | perfect timing. And we |
| | | | |
| constant stream, silently but surely soaking | | | | scratch our heads and think, "Could this |
| the hundred-plus | | | | possibly be my kid?!?"Because just when |
| | | | you're ready to throw in the towel, throw |
| suitcases, sleeping-bags and pillows that | | | | |
| had been dumped onto | | | | your hands up in quiet desperation, and |
| | | | pound your fists on the |
| the ground (no, dirt) by the camp help. So | | | | |
| at nearly midnight, in the cold downpour of | | | | table in a round of madness, your kids will |
| the rain, we schlepped forty kids' stuff | | | | do something that |
| | | | |
| into one of the cabins. It was pitch black, | | | | will convince you that they are filled with |
| excepting the two | | | | brilliance. That |
| | | | |
| puny flashlights and those five measly light | | | | they possess a hidden gift or an |
| bulbs.Suffice it to say that the first night | | | | indescribable magic or a |
| was character-building. | | | | |
| | | | hilarious gift of humor or a quick mind or a |
| I had eight twelve-year-old girls in my | | | | strong shoulder or |
| cabin. Giggly, wanting | | | | |
| | | | a gentle spirit.And you are so thrilled to |
| to chat well past "lights out," but with the | | | | have had some small part of the |
| cutest tank-top-pajama-bottoms combos I've | | | | |
| ever seen, (and more make-up than one could | | | | creation.Carolina Fernandez earned an M.B.A. |
| imagine for a weekend retreat in the middle | | | | and worked at IBM and as a stockbroker at |
| of friggin'nowhere) I had the distinct | | | | Merrill Lynch before coming home to work as a |
| impression that it could be an interesting | | | | wife and mother of four. She totally |
| two days.And then came Saturday. And Mozart. | | | | re-invented herself along the way. Strong |
| Grieg and Bizet. Rehearsal | | | | convictions were born about the role of the |
| | | | arts in child development; ten years of |
| after concentrated rehearsal brought | | | | homeschooling and raising four kids provide |
| teenager to his instrument | | | | fertile soil for devising creative parenting |
| | | | strategies. These are played out in ROCKET |
| and magic out of chaos. For somewhere | | | | MOM! 7 Strategies To Blast You Into |
| beneath all of the acne | | | | Brilliance. It is widely available online, in |
| | | | bookstores or through 888-476-2493. |