Hopefully our neighbors won’t call the police.

Last night my husband and I started our christmas shopping.  My kids gave us their initial Christmas list (which will grow threefold by the time Christmas actually rolls around).  At the top of each boys list was a drum set. They were probably thinking the sound of the drums would drown out my nagging voice.  

My boys do love music.  My youngest son, Cade, has been using a Tinker Toy lid and 2 wood Tinker Toys as his drum set for about 6 months.  And he loves to get his older brothers together to play rock band.  So, Brad and I headed off to Toys R Us in search of drums.

Initially, my husband pulled a small wood drum from the shelf, threw it in the cart and started to move on. “HOLD IT!” I exclaimed, what about the other 2 boys.  ”They can all share that drum, right?” he responded. We perused the drums, with Brad trying to get me to buy something small and sensible.  Then, I came to a gorgeous blue 5-piece drum set.  It was on sale too.  Obviously, no parent in their right mind buys a 5-piece drum set for a house full of 3 boys.  Well, I have to say, I must be a great sales lady, because somehow I convinced my husband that we had to buy this drum set: symbols, special seat and all.

Here’s why I told my husband that we absolutely have to go big on the drums.  All of my life I have done what is expected of me.  I have lived within fairly cautious boundries and I find it difficult to operate outside of my comfort zone.  Turns out I married a man who is just like me- and the result of our conservative personalities is that we have created 3 boys who are kinda like us.  I don’t really consider any of our kids adventuresome.  They hesitate to try anything new and are somewhat paralyzed in any situation that is unfamiliar.

You may think that DRUMS have nothing to do with my ranting above, but for me they do.  I want my kids to be surprised for once.  Last year they asked for a piano and we bought them a $20 dollar keyboard which sits in the closet.  This year, we could have bought them the electric drums that are no bigger than my computer- but they will lose interest I’m sure.  For me, going a little overboard is so out of character (unless I am exercising) but I want to try out that side of myself every now and then.  Letting my boys bang those drums a couple hours a day is definitely going to send me out of my comfort zone.  I wonder how I will survive?

The drums are as much a test for me as a gift for the boys.  I have spent the last seven years limiting my children’s exploration to what was interesting and comfortable to me.  As hard as it is to play make-believe and make a mess out of the finger paints I am learning that these are ways we teach our kids to embrace life and develop passions.  As long as our neighbors don’t call the police to complain about the noise, it should be fun times at the Coons home this Christmas.