Household chores vs. art pursuits

HEIDI GAISER

On another page in today's paper, there is a story I wrote about the local tap-dance company Feat by Feet.

I went to one of their rehearsals and came away thinking that if someone would offer tap-dancing lessons at the school that's a mile down the road, or better yet, in my living room - at a time that would not conflict with any of the necessary activities in my life, including work, meals, sleep or "The Office" (if it ever returns from the depths of the writers strike) - I would sign up in a minute.

It looks like fun, it's a lot of exercise and you don't have to dance with a partner. And the tap-dancing director said there are plenty of adults in her classes, so one wouldn't necessarily be two feet taller than everyone else.

But the fact that the lessons are in Whitefish, a 30-minute drive from my house, makes this nearly impossible to fit into my adult schedule.

I know there are people who develop and master new skills in their adult life and also have jobs and children, and don't have a full-time staff of servants.

But for most of us, it's a tricky proposition.

I was able to take piano lessons for years as an adult, but that was when I worked only a few days a week. Now that I'm at the office more, and at a kids' sports event most weekends, the thought of sitting down to even half an hour of practice every night, after getting home from work, fixing dinner and cleaning up (by which time it's usually 8 o'clock) is not inviting.

And then push the whole thing back 45 minutes if a grocery-store stop was required. (Considering there are starving people in the world, I always feel like the world's biggest spoiled slob if I ever complain about the pain of putting away groceries, but I don't know anyone who doesn't loathe the chore.)

Plus I don't have a private music room on which the doors can be closed - and the family has been forced to hear enough tiresome repetitions of poorly played Beethoven.

A few years ago I tried to learn a new instrument, the bass guitar, so I could jam with my youngest son.

I wasn't having much luck developing my abilities - I blamed the fact that my hands are too small to move easily around the strings, though lack of practice could have had something to do with it.

Practicing bass guitar is not much of a solitary endeavor, as there are some cool riffs you can pick out of certain songs, but there are few recognizable melodies carried by the bass alone. And jamming with my son was more of a test of my patience than a mother-son bonding experience, as he was quickly bored by my beginner's inability to follow him and would start shredding away.

The sad fact is (kids who are resisting those piano lessons, listen up) the best time to learn certain skills is when you are young and expected to take lessons and forced to practice, rather than later when you feel guilty making the choice to run through scales instead of doing laundry.

I was told by the Feat by Feet director, Ashley Wold, that the parents of her tap students have told her their kids are especially prone to breaking out into tap steps on the shiny hard floors of grocery stores.

Another reason not to venture into the whole thing - considering how many times a week I visit grocery stores, I wouldn't want to subject people to the embarrassing sight of a grown woman tapping her way through the cereal aisle.

Reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4431 or by e-mail at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com