Rock star

Last summer, I bought Mark a drum set and he was thrilled.

He spent two hours a day the first week pounding on it, then gradually grew bored. (You can only play the same few beats so many times...)

I enrolled him in lessons, and his interest grew again. And then waned again, when he realized he had to practice what the teacher taught him every day. Suddenly the drums were a bit of a chore.

But Mark practiced every day, and as he's become better, it's become less of a chore. He recently graduated to playing along with his first song, Wait for You by Elliot Yamin (who also has Type 1 diabetes, in case you were wondering).

He practiced it for about two weeks now, and he's gotten really good! He actually keeps the beat, and plays along perfectly.

On Sunday, Mark's friends came over to play. "Mom, can I play my song for them?" he asked, and I answered, "Of course!"

Mark led them out to the garage, where they were suitably impressed by the shiny blue drums. They were also impressed by Mark's playing, but most impressed when he finished and let them try.

The girls were especially impressed, and in the back of my mind, a little warning signal went off. Even though Mark's only 9 and uninterested in girls, I had a glimpse of my son's teenage years, and his adoring female groupies, and I got a little worried.

Fawning girls aside, it was a pretty great moment. Mark always gripes about practicing, but it's made him really good. I didn't want to embarrass him in front of his friends, so I listened from the front lawn. As he finished the song, I couldn't stop smiling. I was just as proud of him showing off his drum skills to his friends as he was.