It’s marching band season! What’s the football team doing on the band field?
Older son is in marching band. This is his 3rd season(he joined in 8th grade) The first game of the season is tonight. The band is small but mighty. Only 40 kids including the color guard. They are only performing the first 2 parts of the show since part 3 isn’t ready yet. The music this year is amazing. One section is Moonlight sonata accented with a drum line accompaniment-I love it.
Yes, I’m a former march band kid who’s now a loud and proud band mom. These kids have worked and practiced so hard. I can’t wait to see how the competition season goes.
I’m laughing that you’re calling 40 kids small but mighty! We always called ourselves small but mighty at RBR and never got to 30 kids, even when we had a color guard. This year they’re up to 23 members and it’s a banner year, last year was 17 kids! No color guard, but we’re working on it because they want to get back to competing (when I was there we won TOB states for our size division and got to go to regionals).
Yay for band kids! My oldest is drum major this year and I’m so proud of them!
Post by emilyinchile on Aug 25, 2023 12:12:42 GMT -5
I'm sorry, chilerellanos. It sounds like you have the right perspective about it, but that still sucks.
I know I'm a one trick pony these days, but man. Tomorrow marks 2 weeks that I've been sick, and walking to and from coffee just now (about a mile each way, with a coffee break in between) has me WIPED. I just want to feel normal again!
I'm hiding from the kids right now. DD seems to think that me being done with meetings at 1 meant that I was immediately taking her shopping at 1. Her displeasure was noted.
My brain is just fried after this day/week and I need lunch, dammit!
Luckily our car line at David's school isn't too bad EXCEPT, and I've posted about this before, the dad who gets out of his car every single morning to hug and kiss ALL FOUR of his kids and help them put their backpacks on, lol. I somehow always end up behind him and I just glare at him.
This guy is why I always leave a little room between me and the car in front of me. If the driver door opens I pull out immediately. I'm not sticking around for the show.
The 2nd most obnoxious behavior in the drop off line is people who won't let their kids out until they are the first car in line. There's room for at least 4 cars at the curb right at the entrance. But some are just so special they will only let them out if they are the first car. And when you are behind 2 super special people in line they think you will stop and wait, stop and wait. There are plenty of parking spots. Park and perform whatever ritual you want.
I don't drop off often, but at DD's (well now former) school, they had that shit down to an art. They used the horseshoe driveway and they had 5 teachers spaced out along it. Five cars would pull up and the first of them would drive all the way through the horseshoe to the very end and the 4 others would each stop at a teacher behind them. Kids get out and go into the school, those 5 cars pull out and the next 5 pull in and repeat. The first time I dropped off I felt so inept, like where do I stop, am I getting her out fast enough?
Post by blondemoment123 on Aug 25, 2023 12:43:46 GMT -5
Insomnia struck again and I had an early work meeting so I stopped at Starbucks on the way to work. Apparently the PSL just came out and the drive through line was ridiculous.
The only specialist appt they have between now and the last week of September is Monday at 730, which is the first day of school. 😢 I don’t want to redo the tests I just did, so I’ll miss getting her in the bus.
Oh and the PA at my PCP told me it’s likely Crohn’s even though I only have 1 symptom and no family history. I’m like “wow, ok, that’s odd with only 1 symptom presenting.” And she was like “yeah.” Awesome another incurable thing to add to the medical history.
DS's symptoms came on hard and fast, but his main one was not being able to keep food in him after eating. Most of his blood work looked fine, but once the stool sample came in the doctor called on Thursday and he was scoped on Monday and diagnosed with moderate ulcerative colitis. I hope you get answers soon.
ETA: Neither MH or I have a family history of colitis.
Yeah, it’s not meal related. I can eat a meal and be fine for hours. I’m not like running to the bathroom right after dinner.
It’s marching band season! What’s the football team doing on the band field?
Older son is in marching band. This is his 3rd season(he joined in 8th grade) The first game of the season is tonight. The band is small but mighty. Only 40 kids including the color guard. They are only performing the first 2 parts of the show since part 3 isn’t ready yet. The music this year is amazing. One section is Moonlight sonata accented with a drum line accompaniment-I love it.
Yes, I’m a former march band kid who’s now a loud and proud band mom. These kids have worked and practiced so hard. I can’t wait to see how the competition season goes.
I’m laughing that you’re calling 40 kids small but mighty! We always called ourselves small but mighty at RBR and never got to 30 kids, even when we had a color guard. This year they’re up to 23 members and it’s a banner year, last year was 17 kids! No color guard, but we’re working on it because they want to get back to competing (when I was there we won TOB states for our size division and got to go to regionals).
Yay for band kids! My oldest is drum major this year and I’m so proud of them!
Congrats on drum major! What an accomplishment! My 7th grader(who can’t join until next year) wants to go out for drum major when he’s old enough.
We weren’t a competition band when I was in high school and the band was much larger. The band director back then didn’t want to do the competition circuit. There’s been a couple different directors since I graduated but this current director is a tough cookie. He really pushes the kids to get the most out of them. Last season was great. They did so well that they got moved up to open class for TOB this year! They usually are group 2 for size but are in 1 this year since numbers are lower than usual. I can’t wait until the show is complete and all the props plus the guard uniforms and equipment are ready. I think this is my favorite show so far. The music is just beautiful.
Are you and I the same person? I go nuts when it turns yellow. I’m in my chair all day even if I may be…..goofing off a bit 😂
I’ll be honest, the other issue I have is that after 10 minutes, the compute goes idle, the screensaver turns on, and I have to log in again. And somehow, they fucks in the VPN and messes up downloads. So, like every pdf I try to pull from out systems take 2-5 minutes to download. So, I doubly *hate* to have my computer go idle.
Have you heard of a mouse jiggler? You put your mouse on them and they shake or jiggle just enough to keep your mouse moving across your screen. My work has a FOUR minute shut down and it’s a huge pain to restart. You can buy one on Amazon.
I’ll be honest, the other issue I have is that after 10 minutes, the compute goes idle, the screensaver turns on, and I have to log in again. And somehow, they fucks in the VPN and messes up downloads. So, like every pdf I try to pull from out systems take 2-5 minutes to download. So, I doubly *hate* to have my computer go idle.
Have you heard of a mouse jiggler? You put your mouse on them and they shake or jiggle just enough to keep your mouse moving across your screen. My work has a FOUR minute shut down and it’s a huge pain to restart. You can buy one on Amazon.
Or you can do it the old fashioned way--open a word doc, set something firm but not heavy on the space bar, walk away as it creates pages of spaces, then delete the doc when you're done.
This is what I learned when working with a micromanager. You're welcome!
I’ll be honest, the other issue I have is that after 10 minutes, the compute goes idle, the screensaver turns on, and I have to log in again. And somehow, they fucks in the VPN and messes up downloads. So, like every pdf I try to pull from out systems take 2-5 minutes to download. So, I doubly *hate* to have my computer go idle.
Have you heard of a mouse jiggler? You put your mouse on them and they shake or jiggle just enough to keep your mouse moving across your screen. My work has a FOUR minute shut down and it’s a huge pain to restart. You can buy one on Amazon.
My nephew is a mechanical engineer and when he worked from home he built one. LOL
I bought tickets to see Michelle Obama! My partner is working that day so I confirmed with our current nanny that she could babysit that day. I was thinking of inviting a friend but I decided since I haven’t had my usual solo vacation since 2021 I’ll just have a solo date instead. So I think I’ll spend the afternoon getting a massage or facial, then go to dinner, then go see Michelle It’s a week after my birthday too and I’m sure I’ll also do something fun on my birthday so looking forward to those 2 weekends already!
A few years ago I was able to snag one ticket for her Becoming tour here in Chicago with Oprah.
I went by myself and met so many awesome people! Have a great time!
Yay! Yeah I went to the Becoming tour and it was great. This is a much smaller venue so I’m really looking forward to it.
Post by gretchenindisguise on Aug 25, 2023 13:46:24 GMT -5
@@
I am so proud of L. She has created a good core group of friends she trusts and they trust her. One has been asking her for some advice and she’s saying all the things you would hope a kid would tell your kid. Stuff like, talk to your parents they love you, therapy and meds really helped me, the first session is scary and awkward and you may have to try a few therapists to find the right one, but it’s worth it.
It is such night and day from where she was this time last year. I am so so so proud of her.
Can someone explain to me why backyard furniture are so freaking expensive? Why do they cost more than regular, good quality, furniture?
I wish I knew and it’s definitely something where you often get what you pay for. We did just buy an outdoor sectional at a decent price from Costco and have been very pleased with it.
I am so proud of L. She has created a good core group of friends she trusts and they trust her. One has been asking her for some advice and she’s saying all the things you would hope a kid would tell your kid. Stuff like, talk to your parents they love you, therapy and meds really helped me, the first session is scary and awkward and you may have to try a few therapists to find the right one, but it’s worth it.
It is such night and day from where she was this time last year. I am so so so proud of her.
High school is so much better than middle school.
yes yes yes, my L too! Isn't high school amazing?! They find their people and wow omg.
Have you heard of a mouse jiggler? You put your mouse on them and they shake or jiggle just enough to keep your mouse moving across your screen. My work has a FOUR minute shut down and it’s a huge pain to restart. You can buy one on Amazon.
Or you can do it the old fashioned way--open a word doc, set something firm but not heavy on the space bar, walk away as it creates pages of spaces, then delete the doc when you're done.
This is what I learned when working with a micromanager. You're welcome!
It’s marching band season! What’s the football team doing on the band field?
Older son is in marching band. This is his 3rd season(he joined in 8th grade) The first game of the season is tonight. The band is small but mighty. Only 40 kids including the color guard. They are only performing the first 2 parts of the show since part 3 isn’t ready yet. The music this year is amazing. One section is Moonlight sonata accented with a drum line accompaniment-I love it.
Yes, I’m a former march band kid who’s now a loud and proud band mom. These kids have worked and practiced so hard. I can’t wait to see how the competition season goes.
I’m laughing that you’re calling 40 kids small but mighty! We always called ourselves small but mighty at RBR and never got to 30 kids, even when we had a color guard. This year they’re up to 23 members and it’s a banner year, last year was 17 kids! No color guard, but we’re working on it because they want to get back to competing (when I was there we won TOB states for our size division and got to go to regionals).
Yay for band kids! My oldest is drum major this year and I’m so proud of them!
Wow! DD’s symphonic band in junior high has 62 kids! There are two more levels of band below that. The marching band in high school has probably 150-200 kids? We aren’t there yet so not sure.
Football is a big deal. Between football, cheerleaders, drill team, and band I bet close to a quarter of the school is involved in the games in some capacity.
Post by blondemoment123 on Aug 25, 2023 14:55:09 GMT -5
Also, I sent an email to a customer basically laying down the rules and setting boundaries. Shortly thereafter I get several calls from an anonymous number. Nope, if you want me to answer call and leave a message like a normal person.
I’m laughing that you’re calling 40 kids small but mighty! We always called ourselves small but mighty at RBR and never got to 30 kids, even when we had a color guard. This year they’re up to 23 members and it’s a banner year, last year was 17 kids! No color guard, but we’re working on it because they want to get back to competing (when I was there we won TOB states for our size division and got to go to regionals).
Yay for band kids! My oldest is drum major this year and I’m so proud of them!
Wow! DD’s symphonic band in junior high has 62 kids! There are two more levels of band below that. The marching band in high school has probably 150-200 kids? We aren’t there yet so not sure.
Football is a big deal. Between football, cheerleaders, drill team, and band I bet close to a quarter of the school is involved in the games in some capacity.
That’s amazing!
Our middle school had a 100 person symphonic band! But there’s a huge drop off in participation once the kids hit high school for a variety of reasons. It kills me that the MS band is bigger than the HS band when the middle school has fewer than 400 kids (so 25% of the school does it) and the HS has almost 1,300 students (huge regional HS).
Football isn’t big here. Now some students go to games, which is a huge change from my childhood (then it was only football/cheer/band parents in the stands), but it’s not a huge thing. I wish we could separate marching band from football. Such a waste of my Friday nights (I’m tired and loath football, so it’s so boring).
Wow! DD’s symphonic band in junior high has 62 kids! There are two more levels of band below that. The marching band in high school has probably 150-200 kids? We aren’t there yet so not sure.
Football is a big deal. Between football, cheerleaders, drill team, and band I bet close to a quarter of the school is involved in the games in some capacity.
That’s amazing!
Our middle school had a 100 person symphonic band! But there’s a huge drop off in participation once the kids hit high school for a variety of reasons. It kills me that the MS band is bigger than the HS band when the middle school has fewer than 400 kids (so 25% of the school does it) and the HS has almost 1,300 students (huge regional HS).
Football isn’t big here. Now some students go to games, which is a huge change from my childhood (then it was only football/cheer/band parents in the stands), but it’s not a huge thing. I wish we could separate marching band from football. Such a waste of my Friday nights (I’m tired and loath football, so it’s so boring).
I’d love to separate the two as well. Mostly because then they could March in December when the weather is nice and not August when it’s surface of the sun scorching. I know that would not work for you guys, lol.
Sad that y’all lose so many students from junior high to high school! Huge drop off. Too much of a time commitment? I know that’s the biggest reason here.
Our middle school had a 100 person symphonic band! But there’s a huge drop off in participation once the kids hit high school for a variety of reasons. It kills me that the MS band is bigger than the HS band when the middle school has fewer than 400 kids (so 25% of the school does it) and the HS has almost 1,300 students (huge regional HS).
Football isn’t big here. Now some students go to games, which is a huge change from my childhood (then it was only football/cheer/band parents in the stands), but it’s not a huge thing. I wish we could separate marching band from football. Such a waste of my Friday nights (I’m tired and loath football, so it’s so boring).
I’d love to separate the two as well. Mostly because then they could March in December when the weather is nice and not August when it’s surface of the sun scorching. I know that would not work for you guys, lol.
Sad that y’all lose so many students from junior high to high school! Huge drop off. Too much of a time commitment? I know that’s the biggest reason here.
Here it’s a few things that have contributed. Traditionally symphonic band is a class in HS and a lot of kids can’t fit it in their schedule. Last year we had a new director who added an after school band as a club and brought in a few more, but that interferes with sports and some coaches are more willing to work with it than others. It’s sad because when I was there the other sports were super supportive. We had a football star who played trumpet and marched during halftime and a cheer captain who was also drum major and would jump between both groups throughout the games and that’s no longer something that’s “allowed.”
Also, in the 25 years between when I graduated and my oldest started the public school has gotten less popular. They introduced 7 new super competitive magnet schools through our county and those have attracted a lot of the students who did music programs and many of those schools have trouble getting kids back to our school on time for rehearsals (technically they’re eligible to do extracurricular stuff at their home district).
And even though our school is a county magnet school for performing arts, they really have stopped funding, supporting, and advertising it the way they need to, which is an issue at a high level.
I’m hoping the director who started during last school year will continue growing the program, though. She already got us from 17 kids to 23 in one year, so I think it’s going to get bigger again.
Target has some kind of crazy toy clearance going on so I spent $150 stocking up on toys for birthday parties ! I’ve got 15 big kid toys & 8 little kid toys. I’ve got 3 kiddos so it’s probably not enough for the year but it’s a big dent!
Girl moms - don’t flame me but would your daughter like a kooshball sling shot? Idk what 8-10 year old girls like…..The older 2 really have started to have boy only parties so it may be a non issue.
The secrets thread from yesterday got me to finally talk to H about our NYC trip in the fall. It's booked! And it was all under $1K- round trip, non-stop, our preferred times and seats. What a steal! I'm now dreaming of fall in New York.
Post by pumpkincat on Aug 25, 2023 15:52:01 GMT -5
Chiming in on the band chat - my daughter is a sophomore and in her second year of HS band. EVERYONE who is in concert/symphonic/wind ensemble is required to be in the marching band as well (all 225 of them). They are an extremely competitive band (and reigning state champs!) but the schedule is ridiculous. Just last week she had ~20 hours OUTSIDE of school time. It takes a big toll on the whole family - never know when to feed her (she's usually gone from 5-10pm a few nights a week).
All that said, tonight is first football game and I'm excited to see them on the field again. And gearing up mentally for a long season. Hah.
The secrets thread from yesterday got me to finally talk to H about our NYC trip in the fall. It's booked! And it was all under $1K- round trip, non-stop, our preferred times and seats. What a steal! I'm now dreaming of fall in New York.
Impressive!
Thanks! But now I feel the need to clairfy that it's $1K in plane tickets only, not hotel. Now, that would be impressive (and probably impossible?)! I was just so excited to see a plane ticket under $300, and even to our preferred airport.
Luckily our car line at David's school isn't too bad EXCEPT, and I've posted about this before, the dad who gets out of his car every single morning to hug and kiss ALL FOUR of his kids and help them put their backpacks on, lol. I somehow always end up behind him and I just glare at him.
This guy is why I always leave a little room between me and the car in front of me. If the driver door opens I pull out immediately. I'm not sticking around for the show.
I'd absolutely do that but his little brats are all scattered between the car door and the school. Next time I'm just leaning on the horn, lol.
DH is OOT and I usually stick to simple dinners for DS and I when he’s away. Today I decided to make chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing and carrots for dinner, and I put out the linen napkins and everything. It was lovely.
My H got home about 5 today. The dog has not left his side. Every time he changes rooms, she goes into the new room, lays down and stares at him with the look of love and admiration in her eyes.
I’ve been home since Monday. She did not do this to me. I mean, she was happy and all, but not like this.
I’m a bit hurt. But also, I know I’m not the snuggly one. And I treat her like a dog, not a princess.