The Life of a Track, Baseball, Softball, & Band Mom

I am NOT a soccer mom.  None of my children play soccer, I don't take them to any soccer practices, I haven't ever bought them any soccer equipment.

Nope.  Definitely NOT a soccer mom.

Now, track mom?  Yep.  Baseball mom?  A-ha.  Softball mom?  Yes, and coach.  Band mom?  Absolutely!

I have many faces, and yesterday I got to put on the "band mom" face.  It was the annual band trip to Pittsburg State University.  A day trip the band takes so that the band as a whole and individual performers can take part in a music contest.  This was my second year to attend.

Peanut is my band kid.  She has been playing the clarinet since 5th grade.  She's very good at it, but she has decided to pursue other activities in high school next year so this is the last year for adding "band mom" to my list of activities.

Being that I work for the school, I'm an easy target for being a chaperon.  I don't need a background check to ride the bus, so it's a lot easier for the band director if I not only agree to go but also agree to ride the bus that takes the kids.  In order to ride the bus, I had to be at the school by 5:45 yesterday morning.  Meaning I had to get up at 3:30.  Always fun.  Nothing like getting up in the middle of the night, knowing I would spending almost 2 hours on a bus with about forty riled up Jr. high kids.

And fun it was.  From the moment we pulled out of the parking lot, I started to wonder if I had gotten on to the wrong bus.  The kids broke out in to song...singing all the way until we pulled in to the university parking lot.  It would have been much better had the kids been singing the same song, or even in the right key.  But instead, it was more like this...

No wonder these kids went with band.  HA!

After the long, entertaining bus ride, we made it to Pittsburg State University.  The entire band performed at 9:30, but my group's solos didn't start until 1:30 that afternoon, which meant a lot of time to just sit and wait.

All of the kids in my group spent time playing outside or hanging out in the food court.  I parked my behind down in the coffee shop with a drink, my iPad, and a book and enjoyed the time relaxing.  The plan was to get my lesson plans done, but of course the website that I use was down.  So, instead, I did some research on taking some college courses to continue my education and read...for the fun of it.  Something I haven't done in WAY too long.

Finally it was time to start the solo performances.  Peanut did a great job.

It sounded beautiful, and if she made a mistake I didn't notice.

After Peanut finished, I walked around and listened to the solos for all of the kids in my group.  They all did a great job, too.  It's so awesome to hear such young kids with such musical talent.  It made me a little sad to think about the kids that will be giving up their musical talents after this year as they move on to high school and bigger and better things.

Peanut, for example, isn't giving up on music.  She doesn't want to be a part of band anymore, but she is very interested in joining the show choir.  She has tryouts on Monday and Tuesday.  She also wants to play sports, and join the debate team.  All activities that match her talents.  Despite that video that doesn't show the best voice talents, Peanut has a beautiful singing voice.  She is also an awesome volleyball player, discus thrower, and debater.  She is a girl of many talents.

Anywho, our day came to an end around 5PM so it was time to load back on the bus and make the trip home.  We got home around 7:30, and I pulled into my driveway around 8:30.

It was a fun, but extremely tiring day.

I wish I could say that I was going to get to spend today relaxing, but that's not the case.  I have a house that needs to be cleaned, TONS of laundry piled up (and a washer that's about to go out on me, which is not making my life any easier), and baseball/softball practice this afternoon (if the weather holds out).

Life is always on the go around here, keeping me on my toes.

Which is what I better get to right now.  I really don't have any time to waste if I'm going to get everything done on my To-Do list.

The life of a track, baseball, softball, and band mom is NOT an easy one.  But.  It IS an amazing one, that I wouldn't change for anything.

Have a great Sunday!!