www.paperartistsonline.com

I didn't get to spent even a minute in my craft room this weekend. It's getting to be that time of year, where every evening and every weekend are just go go go. This past week, I got a flu shot on Tuesday, and then by Wednesday I think I had the flu. If it wasn't the flu, it was a wicked awful cold. I took a sick day on Thursday, and hoped and prayed that was all I needed to be back in business. Friday was rough, because I felt pretty good, actually, but I sounded terrible and had congestion, which was not a good fit for working a concession stand at a rock concert (something the band boosters do to raise money). I did it, but I was super cognizant of touching my face and running away if I felt a sneeze coming on. Also adding to the stress of the week, Rob and Jake had the fall family pack campout, so Rob was creating menus and shopping and packing.

Then yesterday was an absolute marathon. Nicole had to be up at the school by 7am to travel to the competition, which was 3 hours away, but more like 4 with stops. I had volunteered to set props on the field like I had last weekend, so I found someone to ride with and followed. Our prelims were second to last, and finals weren't till nearly 9pm. We got first in our division in prelims, and got the award for outstanding general effect. But finals were brutal. The top three places were awarded to bands in the higher divisions. We came in 4th overall, which was not too shabby, given that this competition traditionally attracts the best bands in the whole state. But then the real brutal part came in - the ride home. We landed back at the school around 3am, and by the time the trailers were unloaded and the buses were cleaned out, it was 4am by the time we go home. Slept till noon, but still felt like an absolute zombie all day.

Anyway, I'm still fighting with my sinuses, but hope to have a better week. We've got parent/teacher conferences for Jake, and the guys have cub scouts, and we've got a band booster meetings, and then Friday night is homecoming. We travel again on Saturday, but it's only an hour away. So I'm hoping to not be quite so wiped out by next Sunday, and then I can hunker down and finish my Halloween cards and get those out. I've go 4 more to make, and need to put some finishing touches on the first 5. But I'll get there. Welcome to my fall.

All I can say is enjoy the heck of of this time in your life. They will be grown and gone before you blink!

I recall a few of those 2 - 3 am returns to campus. Thank goodness there's a Sunday to recover.

Hope you are feeling better.

Exactly what Debbie said. You don't think it will ever end but before you know it you will be watching your grands.

Debbie J wrote:All I can say is enjoy the heck of of this time in your life. They will be grown and gone before you blink!

I know my weekend wasn't as busy but how can it be Monday morning already?
My only goal was to choose layouts to enter into the State Fair next weekend. Okay, I chose one. Now I have that decision hanging over my head all day at work. Have I even made the other layout I want to enter? Heck no. The supplies haven't even arrived yet. Why do I do this to myself?

I seriously need some coffee this morning.

What do you call a person who enjoys Mondays?

RETIRED!

I call you a smarty pants.... LOL

But I'm SO glad you're now able to enjoy your retirement!!!

pbp908 wrote:What do you call a person who enjoys Mondays?

RETIRED!

Sigh.

I know that feeling Pam P.

pbp908 wrote:What do you call a person who enjoys Mondays?

RETIRED!

You know what would be AWESOME? To have the privilege of being my kids' band groupie parent AND being retired! LOL. That would be so great.

I know there are lots of you who can (and should) continue to set me straight when I'm exhausted and wondering WTH I got myself into. I do complain, but at the end of the day, this is what I've been waiting for since becoming a parent. This is my "soccer mom" moment. It's still a challenge trying to figure out who the parents all are, and which kids belong to who, and which parents are just "mean girls" and should be avoided and ignored... but this is where I want to be.

you're weekend exhausts me Julie

Pam.

Julie - I hate to say this, but the bulk of the "mean girls" here were the color guard. They've always been treated like prima donnas and truly got on my last nerve. Whenever we'd host the annual band party at our house, they never showed up. The "bum line" represented, but not the color guard. I truly wish someone had told them that the MB could perform without them, but they couldn't perform w/o the band at half time and mb competitions. No solidarity whatsoever. The best kids were the horns (with one notable exception), so rejoice in the fact that Nicole plays trumpet.

As for the parents - there's always going to be a crowd of them who don't attend the games or the competitions, never lift a finger to help, and yet still want to dictate how the program is conducted. And you're going to have some of those in the boosters who try to dictate, also. They just can't get it through their heads that the boosters are there to support the band director/s.

Still and all, even with the few that try to make things hard, this is the best time of your experience of having a teen in HS. Enjoy it!

Pam - I am sort of noticing that parents of guard members aren't as engaged as some of the other parents. The only guard parents I know of who regularly show up for booster stuff have a second kid who is *not* in the guard. There are a few prima donnas in the group, but a full half of those kids have somehow adopted Nicole as their official hairstylist for show day. She's kind of wizard when it comes to braiding, and after doing hair for one, several others have asked for the same.

It does seem like brass, as a whole, have much better representation in the family showing up department. HOWEVER, the one person I can't wait to be gone, is the mom of another trumpet player. That trumpet player (and his older brothers) have all been in DCI. So I'm guessing that is a huge factor in their superiority complex. The other parents that seem to have a major superiority complex, is the Senior DM's parents. Sure, they know what's up, but that's no reason to treat those who don't like we're idiots. DCI mom though? She's just downright hateful to most of the other parents. There are several of us who are teetering on the edge of saying something to the director, but he'd likely defer to the booster president, whom I would actually rank #3 in the superiority complex department. And, he appears to be pretty close friends with the DCI parents. So... waiting for them to just age out (one more year) seems to be the best answer. Part of the issue is that DCI mom has single-handedly taken on all of the food duties on competition day. She's said that it works better to just do it herself, rather than try to coordinate with anyone else and risk something not getting done. Totally get that - I get that way at work if I'm not careful. But that's caused everyone to treat her like some kind of necessary evil. "Don't question Donna on anything she does, or the kids may not get fed." And anyone who dares ask her a question will receive a full lecture on her martyrdom. Pffft. I'm not buying it. Rob can cook for 100+ people three times in a single day. One meal a week for 6 weeks is no big deal. And, while he's capable of doing it all himself, he's got some mad delegation skills.

There are several of us newbie parents who think that complete transparency, separation of duties, and mentoring for the noobs would be ideal, though we acknowledge that that approach takes a lot more time and energy. Having the whole booster scene run by 2-3 veteran families may be more efficient, but it's not the way to have a sustainable successful organization. I guess we'll attempt to approach this whole thing like the scouts that we are, and strive to leave it better than we found it.

One of the ways we ended up handling it was to have parents sign up for various jobs, and then we rotated into other jobs after a month or so. That way everyone had experience in everything and if someone didn't show up we could handle it. The only thing we did that nobody else rotated into was the sound system. It was a little tricky to set up and George and I had tons of experience via the music stores and the radio station. We did spend a lot of time working with "apprentices" though, so they were more than capable by the end of the year. We also rotated parents to feed the kids during summer band camp. For some reason, they were always glad when we fed them.

We have a whole entire software system whose sole purpose is marching band management. It's pretty nifty, actually. But they don't use 75% of the features it offers. They do post volunteer stuff for football games and competitions, but not everything. Food beeyoch has actually said "I don't need sign-ups, I need show-ups". Well, guess what? The people who are looking to help out were told to look in Charms for volunteer opportunities. How the hell is anyone supposed to know that YOU operate in a completely different manner? And then, as another example, last night after practice I heard another mom ask the booster president how that last prop was coming along (I didn't even know there were plans for more props), and he said "leave me alone... I don't want to talk about it". Well, excuse ME Mr. President... if you need help, you could always ASK. Put it on the volunteer sign-up! These people operate in a total bubble and then get totally crabby when anyone tries to ask them about it.

It's starting to amaze me that anything gets done, to be honest. These kids are nothing short of amazing on the field. I just wish that we parents could support them with a better booster organization.

I do really enjoy talking with you about your experiences. We've got challenges, and it's good to hear how other boosters organizations have run things.