SAHM, that's uncanny! Our boys really do share many interests!
You've given me many good suggestions and BTDT insights. I know I'll be returning to your post several times. Thank you so much for commenting, particularly with specific guitar models.
We've found a group class that "works" for DS, from the perspective that he has a young friend with him and he is learning social skills alongside music, although I sense he's starting to outgrow the format, as the gap between his interests and those of age-peers is widening. With an October birthday, he's the youngest in his class, but even that doesn't mean much anymore. We might be able to eke out another year, but I'm hoping at that point we'll transition to individual instruction anyway.
We had another mind-meld over the keyboards-- we have a little Casio model that DS received for his second Christmas. I deliberately chose it because the keys are smaller than piano keys and require less force to activate, which has been friendly for small hands. I'd love to bring home my upright piano, which is currently at my parents' house, but our loft is so tiny (<1,000sqft!) that we would have to get rid of DS' current play nook (which itself is small--maybe 25sqft) to accommodate it. I'll have to measure to see if it could even fit up the stairs, because we had to hoist our queen mattress up into the loft. Urban living...yeeesh!
If I had another 100sqft, I'd fill it with a drum set and piano. Our home is already over-ridden with bookshelves and cooking equipment.
