Ahhh-- reading your response, petunia, your DS' explanations sound so very familiar. DD, too, was begging for lessons from the time she could talk, and we finally relented when she was six.
I get a lot of shrugs and promises, and inexplicable statements that don't tally with what we see-- that is, that she SAYS she wants to continue with lessons, loves the teacher, etc. etc. but then refuses any and all efforts to make practicing at home actually work.
One of the problems that we've battled here is that the very IDEA of ""practice"" is fairly alien for PG children in an area of natural ability. KWIM?
DD honestly has no idea how naturally gifted she is either academically or musically, for that matter. She truly thinks that because she doesn't have a reach like Billy Strahorn or Liszt, she's "not really suited" to the instrument. (Seriously-- she can reach a 10th and she's a very petite 5'2" so this makes NO sense... she has freakishly long fingers and amazing hand strength.)
She is frustrated because she "can't sight-read very well." What she means is that she can't just sit down and sight read BACH, for heaven's sakes. She sight-reads better than any musician I've ever known (and we have pros in the family), and always has.
She wants to have the technical ability of Liszt or Schiff, the improvisational skill of Jellyroll Morton and Mozart, and the coolness of Fazil Say. Without practicing, of course. Because if she, you know, has to WORK at it, it's not like she's really "talented" at it or something.
I guess, anyway.
Ergo, she avoids practicing because it makes her feel inadequate.
So yeah, in our estimation, this is a BAD reason to allow her to avoid things or to quit, because her reasons are about task-avoidant perfectionism.
One strategy that we've recently implemented is a "practice plan" and journal as a part of daily practice. She and her teacher come up with a weekly plan-- which is 10% warm-up, 30% work on current pieces and technique-builders, and the remainder is "whatever makes you happy." In that order. Until we pointed it out to her, she truly didn't understand that there is a difference between "playing" and "practicing." Nevermind the notion of "warming up" to practice.
We'll see how it goes, but it seems to have been quite freeing to her to spend part of that 30-45 minutes each day just doing what makes her HAPPY-- riffing on Billy Joel or Mancini or whatever.
