Drumroll, please!

Back when Derek--now aged 10 (and a half! gasp!)--was but a wee tot, he used to bang on absolutely everything, pretending it was a drum. Okay, I realize that every boy on Earth does that. But then he grew up a little, and while he still pounded on stuff, it actually sounded like he was attempting to make rhythms. Don't get me wrong, it continued to be quite loud, but somewhat more...organized, I guess. Then came the fateful day when he got old enough to start making cute little requests, such as "Mommy, I'd like to take Drum Lessons!" So as a supportive, encouraging Mom, what did I do? Signed him up for guitar lessons instead, of course! My rationalization at the time went something like this: he needs to learn to read music first, playing guitar will help him with his songwriting...Mom's ears and nerves just aren't ready for drum practice every night...

And being the cooperative, easygoing kid that he (generally) is, he accepted the Guitar Detour with good grace. In fact, he stuck with it for about a year and a half before telling me calmly that he was tired of it, and wanted to quit. (We had prolonged the enthusiasm by conceding to an electric guitar halfway through--evidently the boy needed more AC/DC, less Jimmy Buffett--but even the allure of the amp had worn off, it seems). Then he wisely let the issue drop for a few months...before returning to the topic of drum lessons again. (I guess that wasn't just a passing fancy, huh? Drat!) There was no dodging it this time, so we have scheduled the Instructional Percussion Mayhem to begin November 1st. Although my world is about to get potentially much noisier, I'm looking for Silver Linings...such as: the drum set is in the basement, which means if we close the door, and I retreat to the top floor of the house, I can feel vibrations, but not actually hear anything...while drums may have a "volume factor", at least we'll be spared the dying-animal-screeching of a beginning violin or trumpet player...and best of all, I have a week and a half to stock up on industrial-strength foam earplugs, herbal tea, and soothing aromatherapy candles to help me block out the auditory stress on Lesson Days!