Priming the Pump

Jor Man has shown an interest in playing the drums.  He drums on everything; the table, the wall, the sofa, his sisters.  We met a man who gives drum lessons, and I thought that Jor Man would love it.

"Nope," he said when I asked him if he wanted lessons.  (Note to self: Do not ask questions that you do not want to hear the answer to.)  I did the obvious response, trying to talk him into it,  "You'll love it.  I will be fun.  Give it a try."

"No."  Hmmm.    Sometimes kids are afraid to try new things.  If you have kids like mine, you may have to "Prime the Pump".

What we did in the case of the drums is this:  I talked with Jon (the drum teacher) and set up a time for him to come over.  Jon suggested that I not call it a lesson, but just a jam session.  When it got to be about a week away, I mentioned to Jor Man that Jon would be coming over to jam with him.  "It's not a lesson," I said.  "If you don't want to jam with him, you don't have to.  I will.  Maybe the girls and Big Dad will, too."

"Okay," he said, looking disinterested.  But I have to say that I noticed that Jor Man drummed more and more as the week went on.  He would remind me that Jon was coming by.

And when Jon arrived today, Jor Man was genuinely excited.  You might not have known it to look at him.  He was doing an uncharacteristically shy routine.  Jon pulled a drum and bell out of his car, and I got our drums out.  The girls came running over.  And Jon just starting drumming.  Jor Man came over and picked up the bell and joined in.

Pretty soon, Jon was giving Jor Man some tips and having him try out some rhythms.  When his interest waned a little, Jon brought a drum set out of his car and set it up on our driveway.  Time to let the neighbors know we're here!

Everyone wanted a turn at the drum set.  There was some "free drumming" as Campster dubbed it.  And Jon showed everyone a simple rhythm to try.  Well, at least it looked simple.  We all burst into giggles as we found that we couldn't get our hands and feet to cooperate - at least not on the first couple of tries.

It was a beautiful afternoon.  The neighbor's horse, and our chickens wondered about the noise.   Kids tried the drums and then ran the tricycle down the hill as fast as they could.  More drums.  Another run down the hill.  Jon was super patient with the kids (and the grown ups).  He's coming back next week.

Wish you were here!