3 Day Weekend!

I cannot say just how excited I am for a long weekend, even though it's going to be a somewhat busy one. I have been dead on my feet for the last few weeks, largely due to my unsuspecting acceptance of sponsorship of our school's color guard. A few weeks ago I went down to buy tickets to our school musical (which was AMAZING, incidentally), and the current guard sponsor asked me if I would be interested in working with the guard next year. I was in marching band and LOVED it, and I miss it a lot, so I said sure!

At the time I had visions of helping out the current instructor, being at some practices, standing with them at games, that sort of thing. Now I know that by "working with the guard," she meant I am the new instructor! Becuase it's so close to the end of the year (7 1/2 days, not that I'm counting), EVERYTHING had to be done immediately. We (the heir apparent new band director and I) had to design the new flags for next year, decide on colors, and order material. This isn't as simple as it sounds...I had never done anything financial with the school system, and it's much more of a pain in the rear than I expected. You have to go to the office and get a purchase order, then you can place your order, then you have to keep all your paperwork in order...I'm used to buying something and maybe keeping a receipt.

So that was fun. But we got the material ordered, then we had to pick out costumes and equipment so we could let parents know how much money they'll be spending--and that's even before tryouts! We had ONE day of clinics where hopeful guard members could come and learn the routine, and one day of tryouts. Lots of the girls stayed after school on other days to work with the hopefuls, but one day seemed a little sparse for clinic time. Next year I think we'll have more...I remember having at least a week before tryouts to work with new girls.

Anyway, we ended up with 27 total guard members. That's 27 girls in one place at one time. What was I thinking? I've already weathered two crises, and that was just on the first day! No sooner had I posted the list of girls who'd made it than one of the returning members comes up to me in hysterical tears. The only thing I could think was that I'd left her name off accidentally and she thought she hadn't made it...but no, she doesn't get along well with one of the other girls and didn't want to have to work with her. Sheesh. Drama already.

Then one of the other girls (who is a current student of mine) had a sceduling conflict and was absolutely devastated because she thought she wasn't going to be able to do guard. After I got her calmed down and finally escaped to my car, I made it home around 8. Of course, Charlotte was already in bed, so I got about 2 minutes of moo time.

That's been a theme in the last few weeks--getting home later than I usually would--and it makes me feel so guilty. I really, really want to work with the color guard, but I'm trying very hard to examine my motives and make sure that I'm not selfishly hurting my child and husband by doing so. I mean, lots of teachers who do extracurriculars like coaching sports have families...so they make it work. I should be able to, right? I think the most important thing is having support from one's spouse and family...which worries me a little. I know my mom and dad will help where they can, but Brian is already clearly not thrilled with the extra time it will take. I just can't explain to him what it means to me. It's an extension of my job, which I love, because I love my kids (even though I bitch about them a lot)...he doesn't get it. For him, a job is something you do to make money, then you walk away from it at the end of the day. My job could never be that for me.

For some of these kids, band or sports or clubs or whatever is the ONLY thing that keeps them in school. Some of them will go on to make a career out of it. Some of them would be getting into some major trouble without their extracurriculars to keep them on the right path. The girl who was devastated because she thought she'd be kicked off the guard came in to my room the next day and gave me a huge hug and told me I'm more than just a teacher. That matters to me.

On that note, I think Charlotte is waking up from her nap, and I need to check on Loki, who ate half of Brian's prednisone pills this morning. Le sigh.