You’re not alone… I finish a whistle that I think sounds particularly good and run in from the garage to play it. For some reason I keep forgetting that my wife’s inevitable response will be “Yes dear, it sounds like a whistle…”. I have been having fantasies about Andrea Corr showing up at my doorstep, lonely and with her entire whistle collection in a suitcase…
Lisa hit upon one of the keys – being considerate encourages tolerance.
I’m another one of of those lucky enough to have a wife who encourages my collecting and playing. She says it makes her feel better about some of her obsessions. She’s also a very good flute player with a very good ear and offers constructive criticism, only when asked.
Charlie
I’m in a lucky position…my wife bought me my first whistle in '95. So, she couldn’t complain too much when I started squeaking and squawking on it.
Luckily, I latched on to the Bill Ochs tutorial in less than a month, which improved my playing considerably, in short order. Thankfully, I’m obsessive, and the ‘painfully bad’ period was over in short order.
She still occasionally gets annoyed when she’s heard me play a new tune One More Time (I’ll usually play a new one for 3 or 4 hours the first evening I learn it)…I try to be considerate and shut myself away in a room with my quietest whistles. But, she tells me that the occasional annoyance is worth it when she gets to watch our 2-year-old son dance around the living room when I play.
My wife wasn’t originally very tolerant of my music. Her opinion was that since playing and practising music doesn’t result in a physical product, you’re really spending a lot of time doing nothing productive! (Her hobbies - sewing, knitting, soapmaking, gardening, etc. all result in something you can use, sell or give away.)
Although I still get complaints about the whistles (“too high & screechy”), her attitude changed when I the money I brought home from playing with a band not only made my music hobby self supporting, but helped make Christmas a little extra special this year! 
I just wanted to bump this thread up and get some more views on it.
I always found jewelry to be a good counterbalance - just buy the jewelry ahead of time so you have it available when the whistle arrives.
Then she got hooked on eBay and her habit got worse than mine.
Then my WhOA was cured and now SHE’s the one with the habit. Fortunately I’m too laid back to worry about it, so it all worked out.
I am very lucky to be living with the people I am living with. It’s 10PM and all three kids are in bed and I’ve been playing violin for a couple of hours. Later tonight I’ll start to practice the mandolin at around 11PM. They never say anything about my playing, ever. And the playing doesn’t wake them up. As for my wife, she never says anything about my playing, and since I’m the cook, I am always playing in the kitchen, which is in the middle of the house. There’s a whistle in almost every room, so my family hears me play all the time. They’re so lucky. 
Just kidding. . .I’m the lucky one!
Thank you, my family.
JP
[ This Message was edited by: JohnPalmer on 2002-09-25 01:20 ]
i made a deal with my wife when she started complaining about the sudden cost of supporting my whoa.
i asked her how much she spends on cigarattes a month (i don’t smoke), and negotiated the same to support my new addiction. with my birthday and christmas coming i will got the odd whistle beyond this allowance.
as for the playing, she finds it sweet, as i find her. the only rule is i’m only allowed to practice during the commercial breaks of television (this is when she goes out to smoke).
after 2000 hrs i switch to low whistles – the neighbours.
cheers!
- tom
My 2 year old daughter, who has to spend the most time with me, sits and watches her TV shows in the morning with me beside her rummaging through JC’s ABC tune finder, playing away to my hearts content. Often, she’ll go find her nickel Generation high G and accompany me (she knows how to work the top two holes now). But when she’s through, she tells me, “No, Daddy. Whizzer right here.” pointing to the place she wants me to put my whizzer..errr…whistle down. Then we play and have fun until it’s her nap time (around 2:00pm), when whistling is forbidden. Then my wife gets home from work and we play and have fun until it’s HER nap time (around 2:00am). Then I sneek into the garage with my Hoover narrow bore until it’s MY nap time (around 3:30am).
You may have noticed that my wife’s waking hours at home NEVER overlap with my whistle playing…it keeps her happy enough to give me a whistle allowance every month.
Side note: She has heard me play the bagpipes and knows that I just spent $400 to restore them to pristine condition. I think she’s just scared and wants to encourage whistle playing at all costs!
On 2002-09-25 03:25, vaporlock wrote:
My 2 year old daughter. . . Often, she’ll go find her nickel Generation high G and accompany me (she knows how to work the top two holes now).
When did she learn to cover the holes? My 15-month-old still grips the whistle right below the blade. If I try to move her hand, she says “No No No.” She’ll let me cover some holes sometimes, at which point she can pretty consistently hit the high-G. She can sign a tune now (Camptown Races), and still enjoys my whistle playing.
What about the time spent in whistle-related activities? Sessions and so forth? Trips to Colorado? 
I don’t think buying my S.O. jewelry will work
Chas, my daughter’s ability to work the top two holes is a recent development. For clarification, she is 30 months old (at this age months still matter more than years). It sounds like your daughter is way ahead of the game at 15 months! Did I read it correctly as sign Camptown races, or is it sing? Either way, we’re still having problems getting through Itsy-Bitsy Spider!
Good luck with your little whistle player!!
Eric
On 2002-09-25 11:46, vaporlock wrote:
It sounds like your daughter is way ahead of the game at 15 months! Did I read it correctly as sign Camptown races, or is it sing?
Good luck with your little whistle player!!
Eric
Oops, I meant sing. And, not the words, it just kinda goes “doo doo doo doo doo doo doo – doo dah doo dah.” My jaw just about dropped when I first heard her singing a recognizable tune. She even knows to blow into the embouchure hole of a flute – no sound yet, but it’s still cool that she learned that just by watching, with no instruction.
I do know she’s ahead of the curve, but I’m still impatient. Kinda like waiting for that Grinter that’s coming in a few weeks.
Best, Charlie
I actually discovered the whistle because I was buying one for my guy. He said he always wanted to play a musical instrument but didn’t know what. I was just learning the recorder, and at Lark in the AM, heard someone playing a whistle, which sounded better and looked easier. So I got him one. It was a Clarke original in C. Of course, I got the wrong key, I realized, when I got home & read the book I also bought. So I went back, got a Sweetone D for him and kept the Clarke for myself, thinking, “Maybe I’ll try it out.”
Well, it’s nine months later, and he can play Amazing Grace and Frere Jacques and that’s about it. Meanwhile, I have WHOA big time and play two hours a day. But he’s VERY supportive. Whenever I feel I might be wasting my time on a useless hobby, it’s HE who says, “Music is a healthy thing, everyone should be able to play something. That’s GOOD, honey! Keep playing.”
I also live with four other people and they say they can hear me practice but, amazingly, nobody minds. However, they were happy when I went from playing the D’s & C’s to playing my A & G.
I’m lucky enough to live with a guy who has always encouraged my music. When we first got together, he told me he loved to come to any performance I was involved in and get to be the guy who goes home with the singer! When I started on the whistle, I think there was a little surreptitious wincing, but he never said anything discouraging. Lately, he has said “you really are getting a much nicer tone out of that now,” which makes me think he suffered in silence for a few months. He has also asked me for piano and guitar lessons, but hasn’t yet shown any interest in playing whistle himself. His musical tastes run more to jazz.
On 2002-09-25 14:23, Blackbird wrote:
When we first got together, he told me he loved to come to any performance I was involved in and get to be the guy who goes home with the singer!
Haha…there we go. Maybe I can apply that.
When I met my wife she was the singer in a band. She likes to say I was a groupie. She does not play but learns to lilt each tune I learn. Unfortunately she is also aware of each mistake I make no matter how I try and cover myself.