Sister tells her brother that his daughter isn't a piano prodigy after she said she wanted to quit the instrument, he accused her of being jealous of his daughter: 'She's a regular kid who's learning an instrument, not some once-in-a-generation talent'

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A kid playing the piano. Featured likenesses do not identify those mentioned.
My brother has an 11 year old daughter who's been taking piano lessons for about 3 years. She's decent for her age but my brother is convinced she's some kind of prodigy. He keeps signing her up for competitions and posting videos of her playing, which is fine, except she's started telling everyone she hates piano. At a family dinner she mentioned
wanting to quit and my brother immediately shut it down, saying she has a gift and she'd regret throwing it away. I told him privately afterward that she's a regular kid who's learning an instrument, not some once in a generation talent, and that he should probably listen when she says she wants to stop. He got really offended and said I had no right to judge her abilities
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since I'm not a musician. He also accused me of being jealous of his daughter, which I found ridiculous. I told him I wasn't criticizing her, I was criticizing him for putting so much pressure on an 11 year old. Now he's barely speaking to me and apparently told our parents that I think his daughter has no talent. My mom thinks I could've made my point without bringing
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up her abilities at all, and honestly I can see where she's coming from. I still think someone needed to tell him that his daughter's happiness matters more than whatever future he's imagining for her.
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julesk NTA but I'd text him 'stop telling yourself and others that I said my niece has no talent. She plays well, the point is she's not Mozart because most kids aren't. I don't like the pressure you're putting on her and neither does she or she wouldn't want to quit.'
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A woman playing the piano. Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
Raised By Books NTV She LIKED the piano. He's making her HATE the piano. You did right trying to protect her joy in music.
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Careless-Ability-748 Is HE a musician? What is he basing his assessment on besides wishful thinking? Could you have focused on her not wanting to play? Yes. But far worse things have been said in families.
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Regular_Boot_3540 Your mom's right. You should have focused on the fact that she doesn't enjoy the piano and not on her abilities.
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happybanana134 YTA for how you approached this. 'I told him privately afterward that she's a regular kid who's learning an instrument, not some once in a generation talent, and that he should probably listen when she says she wants to stop.' The first part of your sentence was unnecessary. The key point was that she wants to stop, and if he keeps
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pushing her, she'll lose the joy and still end up quitting. Commenting on her ability just gave him something else to fixate on, because his focus becomes defending his daughter instead of reflecting on his own actions.
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Adorable_Narwhal_957 What have her piano teachers told him about her abilities? Are there outside experts that agree with his expectations? At 11 years old, she will purposely shut down learning and do the minimum if she does not enjoy it. If she was left to herself, would she even play for herself for fun?
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BwR112 NTA. Stage parents are going to stage parent lol. She'll show him how average she is eventually.
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DragonfruitNo1686 NTA. You did your aunt job by standing up for your niece. I do agree that you could have made your point in a gentler way.
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KatKit52 His daughter's happiness does matter more than her talent, but you didn't say that to him. You told him his daughter wasn't special and thus shouldn't play, and left out the part where she says she hates it. To be honest, you're getting distracted by the "talent" part. Talent has nothing to do with this. She could be the specialist piano prodigy, the reincarnation of Mozart, and it doesn't
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matter--if she doesn't want to play, she shouldn't be forced to. That's what should be focused on, not whether she's good or not.
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