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"My Mom is the Band Director": Missing Band Camp



My daughter and I took this picture right after getting home from her first band festival a few years ago. Great performances and great smiles all around! A blissfully captured moment of when both my Mommy and Band Director hats were worn securely. It's not easy wearing both of those hats all the time though-- It's a LOT of hard work, but it's a balancing act that gives me the privilege of pursuing my best life. My love for teaching and making music feeds my soul and helps me to be a better Mom. Spending time at home with my family gives me the life I need to be a better director. The love of both feeds the other and ultimately, myself.


Abba knows how it works...

This summer, and this past week in particular, has been one of those more difficult times. TL;DR: I had to miss my first band camp as a director because I am 37 weeks pregnant and we are expecting our second daughter any day.

The longer story...

Mom Hat: Starting our family has been a long, complicated road for me and my husband. After years of doctor's referrals, treatments, various appointments with many hard discussions, set backs, and tears, we eventually were blessed with a relatively smooth pregnancy with our first daughter. However, we were fairly sure that we would never be able to have a second child naturally. When we found out this past December that I was pregnant for a second time, we were beyond surprised and excited!

Although it was a significantly straighter road to pregnancy for our second child, our second pregnancy has been quite a bit more challenging than the first. I consider myself a relatively low-maintenance gal, but this pregnancy has required that I become very high maintenance for the sake of my own and my daughter-to-come's health. Not only has the pregnancy itself been more taxing, but it has effected my mental health, making hat-balancing even more challenging.

Anyone remember this guy from their childhood? Because he and I could grab a drink together (after the baby, of course) and commiserate. The book was always a favorite of mine, but I never thought it'd be quite so literal.

Band Director Hat: The timing and circumstances of our second pregnancy meant that I needed to find both an Interim Marching Band director and an Interim Director to cover my teaching schedule for the fall-- no easy task. Fortunately, both were found prior to the end of this past school year. (I can't emphasize enough how fortunate I am to have knowledgeable, experienced colleagues with whom I know I can trust my kids and my program while I'm on leave! It is such a relief!) The next step was to make sure my Interim Directors can focus on the art of teaching before taking my leave. I wanted to make sure as much of the logistical work was in place before the fall. At the end of the year, I spent weeks building up my shared Google Drive, hiring MB staff, ordering everything needed for halftime, programming fall concert music, getting instruments inventoried, cleaned and redistributed, submitting bus and truck requests, finalizing calendar dates, updating handbooks and syllabi, and making sure the band room/equipment was set for our summer bond construction. Once everything was settled, I thought the summer would be a breeze. All my hats seemed to be balanced and stable. 

And then it finally sunk in that I would be missing band camp. 

Of course, I knew in the back of my mind for weeks that my going to band camp wasn't going to be possible: I wasn't medically cleared to travel, I couldn't climb scaffolding or stay on my feet for hours. I knew the students would be in great hands with the incredible staff and army of supportive parents who really make band camp run like a well-oiled machine. But in spite of "knowing" the facts, when the time came finally came, I wasn't quite so ready to hang up my director hat. 


But it needed to be done. So I threw my hair up into my best messy bun, watched Frozen with my toddler, channeling my inner Elsa to "let it go", and really tried to focus on taking care of myself and my baby. Over the course of the week, I had three doctor's appointments-- all of which fortunately led to my being cleared to visit camp for the last night!

I might not have been able to be a part of the full week, but I am SO thankful I had the chance to put my director hat back on for a small part of the camp experience. Having the opportunity to drive out with my husband, see and hear students hard at work, and speak at our Friday night bonfire was truly special. It especially meant a great deal to share in our Circle and share my heartfelt thanks to our Seniors.


I'm not going to pretend that I have the hat balancing act all figured out. It's a daily challenge that requires a lot of patience, communication, and people; it doesn't just take one village-- it takes MANY villages.  (It can't be overstated just how very fortunate I am to have extremely supportive families, both personally and professionally, to help keep everything moving forward!) Hats may fall off, get dirty, need to be hung up, or washed along the way, but with the right people and circumstances, they can always be picked back up and balanced again- just like my friend, The Peddler from Caps for Sale.


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