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.
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?
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?