Average boy, he's average boy, he's average boy, he's average boy, look out he's back with shoes untied at his ears, slick back, taking life on one day at a time, average boy and just bringing the rhyme.

Welcome to episode 53 of the official Average Boy podcast. I'm Jesse, editor of Focus on the Family Clubhouse Magazine and I'm back.

Okay, then I'm front, front and center as it should be. I'm Bob Smiley, aka Average Boy, aka Mr. Mischief Maker of Mariment and the musical Master of Murth.

Wow, the Mr. Mischief part in the Maker of Mariment, well I get that, but musical Master of Murth?

What does that mean? Oh, wait, wait, are you learning M words this week?

Oh, see, there's another one. And if you give me a moment, I'll come up with more. Marvellous.

But I'm not here to talk about M words actually today. I have another idea in mind. Do you play an instrument, Jesse?

I'm pretty good at playing the radio. Does that count? In fact, I'm an expert at playing adventures in Odyssey or anything by focus on the family.

Nice product placement. Well, you know, I like to think of it as job security. Oh, speaking of jobs, I always thought I would be a famous comedian or a famous scientist.

Oh, are you good at science? I thought I'd always be a famous comedian, but now I'm thinking I may be a famous musician.

Oh, I've got to hear this story because I thought the only thing you played was triangle. And I can't name one famous triangle player.

Hang on, you know me, Jesse? Okay. Anyway, when I was little, my mom used to beg me to take piano lessons from her. Well, I recently decided to take her up on her offer.

Well, that's great. You know, learning a musical instrument is a great way to exercise your brain. So is she giving you lessons?

She gave me one lesson. Unfortunately, she got really busy right after that first lesson. From what I could tell, she spent most of her time trying to sell our piano.

However, that gave me a sense of urgency. If I was going to master the piano, I had to learn quickly.

My parents saw how trying to sell the piano was making me practice even harder. So they tried even harder to sell the piano. It's so cool how my parents are encouraging like that.

Okay. So your dad thought you were a good piano player.

Well, it's hard to tell. Dad's been wearing earplugs around the house lately. I think it's because our sealant fan makes a winding noise. It must really bother him. In fact, he even wears the earplugs when the fan is turned off.

And I try to play a song for him. I remember the first time I played for him. I started banging on the keys and shouted to him. Practice makes perfect, right dad? And he shouted back even louder. No, perfect practice makes perfect. I smiled and told him that I'm on my way to perfection.

And dad didn't smile. He just joked. He said, I wish you were on your way outside. Yeah, your dad can be a funny man. But did you ever stop to think why your parents might be wanting to sell the piano?

Well, the answer is obvious, Jesse, to fix that noisy sealant fan. But let's not get off topic. Okay, we're doing really well today. People learning m words might even say we're doing magnificent.

Mucho, Magnifico. So you continue to learn and practice, right? I did. Yeah, I did. I even started waking up super early to play. I'd sneak downstairs in the morning and practice my scales.

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