It took me a lot of thought to think of what I wanted to say about this. Seriously. On one side, I can see a child with a broken heart, and, on the other side, I can see a parent who realized they made a big mistake and attempted to fix it. I suppose if I was the parent, I might have just made a few ground rules about drummin' and if the rules were broke, I would then take the drums away.
I did that with some step-kids once, not with drums, but with their right to chew gum. I was always seein' them takin' it out of their mouth and playin' with it. Finally, one of them dropped it onto the carpet, and it took me about an hour usin' an ice cube to get as much of it out of the carpet as I could. I then told them, next time I see either of you takin' the gum out of your mouth, you will not be allowed to chew gun until you turn 10. The next day, I saw one of them takin' the gum out of their mouth, and I made them spit it out. I took every piece of gum out of the house and there was no more gum chewin' by those kids for the rest of the time I was their step-father. Of course, I was not there long enough to regrant the privilege. I am pretty sure, however, that the ban on kids chewin' gums in the house was not the reason that marriage failed. I am still not sure what the cause was, but I am pretty sure that it did not involve anythin' doin' with anyone bein' allowed to chew gum. The last time I saw those two kids they were cryin' 'cause they wanted to live with me.
Posted by notGeorge at December 1, 2003 08:15 PM