I met a five-year-old with the most exquisite taste

A couple of weeks ago I was visiting one of my favorite former mentors (though, can you call someone your “former” mentor if you still send them panicked emails like “Help I’ve been asked to write for a book and I have no idea how to handle this what should I do???”) who is parent to the most delightful five-year-old you will ever meet. Not only is this girl spunky and imaginative and observant, she also has the best taste in music of any small child I’ve ever met.

Some of her favorites, I’ve been told, are Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Danse macabre” and George Crumb’s Black Angels. A five-year-old who loves Black Angels! When I was a kid I went feral for “El Toreador” from Bizet’s Carmen because I was, apparently, basic as heck. The kids really are alright.

But her absolute favorite, her amused but weary parents told me, is Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. If she had her way, she’d listen to Rite of Spring on repeat all day every day, and so her parents have instituted an “Only one Rite of Spring a day in the house” rule.

ONLY ONE RITE OF SPRING A DAY. That is the funniest parenting rule I’ve ever heard of.