What do you mean, "bring the drums into the house?"

All of my children are extremely talented.

My son is an excellent musician. I went to one of his concerts and he had written out his own drum part on unlined paper. Wow! We were all impressed. He can pick up many instruments and just play them. Makes me sick! Lol.

When my first daughter picked up the trumpet and started playing it I was like;  no way! My youngest daughter picked up the clarinet and then the alto sax and I was blown away.

All of these instruments have one thing in common, they are loud!  Xman didn’t really appreciate the volume as they were learning their instruments, it was hard, but I was impressed that they were trying.

So, the answer was to have them practice in the garage. I could still hear them but it wasn’t aimed at my ears.  Talent takes practice and I’m sure there were many times they wished I could move the piano into the garage...😊


As my first daughter got better she moved her instrument into the house. She put a mute on her horn and all was right with the world.  Being a musician myself I was thrilled with their progress. My firstborn got so good at her instrument that she was first chair in the band. I couldn’t have been any prouder of her persistence and determination. I was also extremely impressed by her talent. As well as that of my second daughter. She had asthma and to play a wind instrument took determination.



However there was no muting the drums. So, for a long time they stayed in the garage. I, however, got chills when he played. I wondered how many arms the boy had. Seriously!



My youngest daughter decided that the alto sax was not for her so she took up singing and songwriting. She also draws from the heart. Her drawings are so amazing. She feels deeply.



All three of them make me want to cry with joy. They were good students and more importantly good people. It’s a joy to have a relationship with them as adults.

During the separation part of the divorce  I told my son to bring the drums into the house. I mean, my piano was in the house.  A couple of times we played together. Man that was great!

But the living room wasn’t big enough for the piano , the drums and the furniture, but we had a bonus room upstairs so I asked him to set them up in there.

I wish I had a picture of his face when I told him that he could bring his drums into the house. He was like, “you want me to bring the drums into...the HOUSE?” I smiled and said yes. He’s so sweet, he was worried that the noise would disturb me. Hey, I’m a musician. It wasn’t noise to me. He’d practice for hours a day. I loved it. It was good for both of us.

Then he stepped out a little further and asked if he could bring his friends over and practice in that room. I was like, “ of course!” He must have thought I lost my mind... so his friends brought over their electric guitars and they had jam sessions.

One day I told him I was going to lay down for a little while and he said, “okay, we’ll stop playing.”I said, “ why?” He said, “won’t it disturb you? “ I’m like, “no”. So they played on and I took a nap.

One of my greatest memories was when my firstborn brought her trumpet into the house.   We were potty training my son and the girls got involved. In order to keep him on the potty my firstborn would play the trumpet and my younger daughter would dance or entertain him. It was great and it worked in no time.

I have to admit that I was concerned that he’d have to take his sisters to school and even to college so he could use the bathroom. Ha, ha. But he grew out of it and learned to live without them. (Sorry son)

All three of my children are extremely smart. Each in his or her own area. One day we were driving in the car and I asked my firstborn what 10 times 10 was? Without hesitation my youngest daughter blurted out, “100!” The two of them are two and a half years and one day apart.

During first grade I attempted to home-school my oldest daughter. No, that didn't go over too well. But we made some awesome memories!  Plus my youngest daughter loved to be involved. She used to ask me to create math problems for her to solve. Math is not my best subject, but I did my best.

However, we could all agree that our favorite subject was lunch! That meant it was time for all of us to curl up together in the recliner and watch Perry Mason ! We usually ate grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup with cheese puff balls in them. It was great!   I haven’t seen any cheese puff balls by the company that makes Cheetos in a while. They were amazing!

While I’m on the subject of lost foods I would like to ask why Coca Cola stopped using recycled glass bottles? There is absolutely nothing better than a cold Coke in a glass bottle. Sorry Pepsi, I’m not a fan

Do you ever type in a word and auto correct thinks it’s smarter than you? I know this is off the subject, but humor me. According to auto correct my name used to be “Batman!” He’s my youngest daughters favorite character so I wasn't too upset about it.

Back to my story. I miss the music now that my children are older and have moved away. But thankfully my son still has his drums set up and is playing. My firstborn laid down her trumpet to have 2 babies, to sing, to create through art and photography. I do hope she picks it up again. She had some chops! At least that’s what her band director told me. My youngest daughter still sings, writes songs, poems and draws. She also has two little ones of her own.  I can’t wait to see what all of them become. I hope they will enjoy music as much as their parents and I do.

So, thank you children for being precious gifts to me from God. Thank you for sharing your talents with me. Thank you for your patience as I battled depression and for heaven's sake, please...bring those instruments inside the house!