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What do your kids see?

My wife copied me with her e-mail quote-of-the-day yesterday: "Don't worry that children never listen to you. Worry that they are always watching you."

As the father of a sixteen-month-old, I have certainly learned that my son watches me closely. It didn't take him long to figure out that the big button on the front of the television will turn it on. Now the battle will be to convince him not to reach for the volume knob on the audio equipment.

Of course, I've resolved to be careful about the little things, like showing my temper or yelling at the dog. But I'm sure my son is going to learn a lot of things from my behavior that I don't consciously think about. Hopefully he learns more good than bad, but I don't think he will be blind to either.

In thinking about this, I started to wonder what he will learn as he watches me get farther and farther into this crazy audio hobby. Will it be good? Bad? Or will it have no noticeable effect on him at all?

I'm curious what those of you with kids have seen over the years. How have your kids responded to your love of music, your love of equipment, and your pursuit of sonic nirvana?

Have they learned to love music? Care for equipment? Or have they picked up some of the more negative traits of audiophiles?
swingman
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
They do not share my love of equipment. They love music, but believe a Walkman cd player sounds as good as anything I have. Maybe on Limp Bizkit it does. They don't touch my equipment though. My wife stayed home when they were young. She knows that dings cost money in resale. She was very good about saying 'No' when they would head towards my system. If they got mischevious and didn't listen, they got a 'time out'. They didn't like being forced to sit in the punishment chair, so it changed their behavior. The punishment chair was just a regular chair that they had to sit in and 'think about what they've done', when they misbehaved. It worked so far, I have 3 boys ages 18, 15 and 12. None of them touch any of my audio equipment to this day. They might comment on it, but no touch. Overall, my audiophile habits seem to be immune to them. They think I'm nuts, just like my wife does. Maybe I am.
kinsekd
252 posts
 
My son is 9 and has learned to operate the equipment better than my wife. Not only does he have a love of music, he has been taking music lessons. He's already had the thrill of performing in front of live audiences. I have exposed him to more types of music than most kids twice his age. He knows Beethoven and Bach as well as the Backstreet Boys.

One luxury I have that my father didn't when I was growing up is a Tivo with a pause button for live tv. This came in very handy when we watched the World Series together and he has baseball questions. I could answer him without missing any of the action. I was expected to sit there and keep quiet when I was a boy.
paulwp
585 posts
 
My oldest used to put his casettes in the tape deck and turn on the amp and play them when he was 1 1/2. He hasn't seemed very interested since the age of 3, but he has some cds and his own little minisystem and headphones now as a teenager. My younger son was never interested unless someone else turned it on for him.

I never worried about either of them.
elgordo
530 posts
 
My two daughters, born 1971 and 1975, have grown up with the hobby. They both loved going to bed while listening to Dahlquists or Quads from the living room. The result? Both are audiophiles. The older daughter has Dahlquist DQ10s with a sub-woofer, while the younger one prefers 'stats and has a pair of Acoustat 2+2s. The younger daughter is a singer and plays stringed instruments and uses tube amplifiers only. She also has a home recording studio. She comes to me with questions like: "Dad, can you make me a 25 foot Mogami mike cable with female XLR and 1/4" TRS terminations?" My older daughter's 3 year old son is learning to play guitar. I highly recommend raising audiophile kids. Don
nrchy's avatar
nrchy
2,124 posts
 
I used to keep "the System" in the living room when the kids were born. We have since moved and the basement is better suited to listening. Our equipment was always there to listen to, so the kids grew up listening. They're only ten and thirteen now, but both like to listen. Mostly to things I have, but also to a few things I would never even consider.
The youngest is taking music lessons and the older is waiting for us to find a good viola teacher. Having the music on made them both want to learn. After several years on the guitar the younger wants to quit. I told him he could quit if he did not like it, but not till he took lessons for five years. He actually likes it, he just doesn't want to practice!
I grew up in a non-musical home where music was never really a focus. I never learned to play anything other than Krell, Aragon, Pass Labs, etc. Your children/child has a great opportunity. Build a love of music, all music, not just your favorite styles. The child will only benefit from it.
Keep in mind though, people are more important than things. This is difficult when your toddler son pokes his finger through the grill cloth and into the driver, but equipment goes away, children are there for a lifetime!
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