Kids, Drums, and boxes

When David was 2 or 3, a really good friend gifted to him a giant toy drum-set. We're talking amplifier pedal, microphone,  matching stool, the works. It came in a box that was about as tall as he was. 

David had no idea what this thing was, and as he already had a small toy drum that had its own bells and whistles and fit neatly into one of his many toy bins, we figured, Salim and I, that there was no need to open this thing. Don't get me wrong, we love toys. We have A LOT of toys in our sweet little one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment.  It's just that our grownup spirit prefers toys that can be put away. This drumset? So cool! But, not happening. 

Fast forward to last night. I'm not sure how she managed it,  but Sara, who is about the same age now as David was when we first lay eyes on this drum-set, discovered the box that had been buried in the back of the closet all those years. Equally perplexing is how she managed to get it out and carry it to the living room. She's not a fluent speaker yet, but she managed to say "let's open it!"

I had no intention of opening it. I shot Salim a look that said hey, I'll distract her, you make this thing disappear. But to my shock and dismay, Salim was already cutting the box open. 

What are you doing? What are you doing?! I said with my glaring eyes. But he clearly didn't hear me. "You're really opening it?" I asked, out loud this time, controlling my tone with great difficulty. 

"She said 'lets open it'" he said.

"We open it!" said Sara . 

"It's going to take up so much space" I said. "Why, exactly, are you doing this?"

"I don't know. It's been here so long, what are we waiting for? Let them enjoy it."

"We can give it away. Anyway Sara will outgrow it in 2 minutes. It's going to make so much noise…"

"Yea, will definitely make some headaches" he said as he connected the pedal and adjusted the mic. Sara by now was holding both drumsticks and jumping up and down. 

"'Cmon, Maayan, you gotta unbox that box" said my brother who happened to be there that day. His eyes were laughing. He's been following my Instagram. 

And that's what did it. I came back to myself. I remembered what I'm committed to. I saw my adulthood acting up in all its bossy, achy,  reasonable glory. After how many years shuffling that box left and right in the back of that closet, resisting every possible urge to take the drums out of the box, I haven't had quite enough. I still had countless highly reasonable reasons I was not yet finished pulling out of my box. 

But I didn't pull them out. Instead, I laughed so hard at myself. And just like that, I was done. 

The rest of that evening Sara and David, played with the drums in the middle of our living room. They were singing to the pre-recorded melodies. We were singing along. We giggled and laughed. "Did you hear when they said this and that" Salim and I whispered laughingly to each other that night after the kids went to bed. 

And so it was. 2 happy kids. 1 old set of new drums. No boxes. 

Thanks Fanny, for a most awesome gift. We love it.