in which I share a story gift: "Drumming Wisdom" (for parents and kids)

Today is a day when a lot of parents might wish in vain for a little peace and quiet.

This story is for you.

Drumming Wisdom

There was once a small boy who banged a drum all day and loved every moment of it. He would not be quiet, no matter what anyone else said or did. His distracted parents didn’t know how to make him stop.

The child’s teacher told the boy that he would, if he continued to make so much noise, perforate his eardrums; this reasoning was too advanced for the child, who was neither a scientist nor a scholar. And so, the drumming continued.

The local minister told him that drum beating was a sacred activity and should be carried out only on special occasions. The child didn’t believe a word of this, and so the drumming continued.

A neighbor offered the parents plugs for their ears; another neighbor gave the boy a book; a friend gave the neighbors books that described a method of controlling anger through biofeedback; a doctor prescribed meditation exercises to make the child placid and explained that all reality was imagination. Each of these remedies worked for a short while, but none worked for very long.

And so the drumming continued.

Finally, the child’s grandfather came for a visit.

He looked at the situation, handed the boy a hammer and chisel, and said, "I wonder what is INSIDE the drum?"