The Beats of Their Own Drums

We're on Day 2 of at-home-alone, though Sis's fever abated in the night and Bud is not yet sick. We might be clear by tomorrow, if all goes well today. Still, sadly we had to cancel this morning's playgroup and Chinese food extravaganza and are trying to make do by ourselves.

And so out came the pots and pans. Sis and Bud spread blanket "stages" on the living room floor and lined up anything that would make a noise when hit with a drumstick. My kitchen pots and pans and lids, those from their little kitchen, makeshift oatmeal can and yogurt container drums, and actual little drums and tambourines.

Bud lined all his up in a row and played them sequentially, one at a time. Sis, on the other hand, flailed her arms to play several simultaneoulsy and to make the maximum sound possible, even testing different lid and pot combos for the most noise. Oddly, this is the exact opposite of how they paint: Sis makes individual, discrete color circles, never mixing colors, while Bud mixes as many colors as possible across the entire sheet of paper.

But most telling is that Bud continued to play his drum scales, while Sis eventually picked up her pots and pans and moved to the little kitchen, where she is now making "vegetables from the farm."