Saturday, January 27, 2007

Playing with the band

Joey loves music. Mom got him some drumsticks, and he's been going crazy (in a good way). He seems to have an OK sense of beat and time. I took him over to the church this evening. They have a casual contemporary service on Saturday nights, with a little band. When I took him last week to be baptized (long story), he really loved the music. He danced in the aisles, strumming his tummy liek a guitar or pretending to drum, and impressed everyone when they stopped and he'd say "Very good!" Then the band leader started ending songs with "Amen!" so Joey started saying "Amen!" as soon as a song ended. Everyone thought that was incredibly cute. Well, its a church after all. What's cuter than a four-year-old enjoying being at church and joining into "Amen" at the end of a song?

Anyway, he loved it so much I took him tonight. We sat up in the front pew so he could get a good long look at the instruments, and one of the percussionists came over and started handing him instruments to play, like shakers and spoonsets. Joey was THRILLED. He did a really nice job, especially with the spoons. I haven't seen him that happy in ages!

So often when people interact with Joey, and start to get the clue that something is not-quite-right, we get a curious reaction- usually something akin to a dirty look, or a scowl, or a pushing-away that is really very hurtful. It was just nice to see people react to Joey in a way that appreciated who he is, and welcomed him. Nobody there wanted to try to change him, or ask him to be quiet, or stop him from being a four-year-old in love with music. Yes, that band has a new #1 fan.

Me.

No comments: