Every time I begin learning a new instrument, I say to myself, “If snot nosed grade school kids can figure this out, so can I.”
Yeah. Especially since snot-nosed grade school kids understan what pants have got to do with it.
The ones that I remember all wore skirts 
So you remember the Scottish ones?
might even be a fair few in me
When I was in grade school, I started to learn to play the flute, because that happened to be one of the instruments that I had to choose from that were in cases in our attic. We had a flute, a trumpet, and a trombone, that I later sold to a jazz musician in Tucson. I don’t know why, but the flute appealed to me most, probably because I am somewhat of a minimalist. However, I didn’t have any good instruction. I tried to learn the instrument, but I became out of breath and lightheaded every time I tried to play. At that point I really needed someone to tell me that that was normal and that with a little practice on my embouchure I would get over it. But I didn’t have that good advice, so I gave up the flute and sometime later started lessons on the guitar, which I don’t regret, by the way. I did miss out on playing with a band during my school years, which is something that I would have liked.
Now, 50+ years later playing the flute seems easy and natural, and I don’t feel out of breath when I play. When I think about it, it seems a little strange how I feel connected to the flute players and flute makers of the past. I started making flutes out of pvc maybe 15 years ago, don’t ask me why. Since then I have sold thousands of flutes to people all around the world, thanks to the wonders of the internet. So my advice to all people who have an interest in playing the flute is this: don’t give up on your dream and quit because you have some difficulties in the beginning. With time everything will work out, and you will have a wonderful instrument to play for the rest of your life.
If someone would have told me even one hour before I was offerred a flute as a gift from a nun that I would teach myself to play the flute, I would have politely dismissed them.
Well, I have always been practicing with pants…
I successfully ran up the entire scale in one breath for the first time… now just to run down it in the same breath too. Unfortunately I’m only able to hold a note for 8 or so seconds… 2nd octave is a bit iffy at the moment also. Tone also tends to fall apart if I try and play tunes up to speed. Ah well. Back to the mirror! 
All those things are sounding dreadfully familiar to me from last year some time. I tended to go really quite sharp in the second octave, but all the rest of those things you mention were things I was experiencing at that stage. I seem to be past that, so things are, finally, beginning to look up.