Our Family Calendar

Sometimes I think I should only approach our family calendar with an inhaler close at hand.  The patchwork of places to be and times to be there scrawled across 30-odd tiny boxes often illicits a barely-contained panic and touch of hyperventilation.  Especially now that August is here.

August in our family means Marching Band.  And Marching Band means WORK.  Our oldest daughter is in rehearsal every day this week from 8am to 8pm.  She’s only “off” next week because she’ll actually be at church youth camp (along with our other daughters, on various days), but then it’s right back into evening rehearsals, sneak peak show for the parents, and then – GASP! – school (and FOOTBALL SEASON) starts.  Marching Band in Texas is so much more than an extracurricular activity.  It’s an agreement between three parties – your band director, your child, and you – that you consent to having absolutely no life for the next three months.  And beyond, if your team does well.  Or if your band does well and moves on to other competitions later in the year.

In addition to Marching Band, our second daughter is in jr high band and will also begin playing at her jr high’s football games.  Rehearsals for that started this week, too.  Our third daughter will be in jr high choir, and so far I don’t have anything on the calendar for that.  I’m remaining blissfully unaware of any and all obligations for that endeavor, though I’m certain they will avalanche upon me soon enough.

Aside from Marching Band, band, and choir, the girls have church youth meetings during the week, and our older son is a Cub Scout.  I’m the VP for Membership on the elementary school’s PTA Board, with an average of two meetings per month (plus the hours in school that they always seem to shoo at as if it’ll be inconsequential…I know better, though).  I’m also a VP on the jr high band’s Booster Board.  I’m curious to see if that will stick – unfortunately they might need to hobble along without me if I decide my sanity is at stake because of everything else.

I spent two hours “calendaring” last night, and I only got through the month of September.  I could hardly see straight after scribbling so many tiny notes in all those boxes!  October and the proceeding months will just have to wait for my attention.  With as much as I grouse about the loooooong, sloooooow summer days, looking at the next two months on the family calendar makes me want to cling to my jammies and focus on the hum of the A/C, burying myself deep in the denial that my life isn’t about to get very, very crazy.

You might also enjoy these related posts from Tree, Root, and Twig:

1. Managing the Family Calendar with Cozi.com
2. Wordless Wednesday: Girls Gotta March
3. She's My Flute Hero (and You Could Be *Her* Hero!)

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.