Thursday, August 28, 2014

Color Guard: How a Being a Mom is like Being in Drum Corps

In the summer's of 1999 and 2000 (my age out), I was a proud member of the Carolina Crown Drum & Bugle Corps Color Guard. There were many details that were less than fun, and yet I never wanted to go home, and I marched two seasons (so clearly I liked it!).

Flash forward 14 years (eeeek!)....and now I am married and have a 7 month old daughter.

I was thinking about my time in drum corps, and realized "man, there are a lot of similarities to my life right now." As I went through a few band camp rehearsals, while simultaneously watching my daughter learn to crawl, I started taking note of specific similarities.

  Sleep:  
  • You start to sleep in random places (like the couch, the nursery floor)
  • You sleep whenever you can, like today, when I napped during her morning nap
  Eat:  
  • You eat whatever's available, sometimes it's whatever's leftover or fast
  • You have to stay hydrated (specifically if you're a mom who's nursing your little one)
  Schedule:  
  • Your schedule is not your own, even though you planned to go to the grocery store at 10 AM, she may need a nap then unexpectedly
  • You have sectionals (you and your little one), and ensemble (you, your little one, and your significant other), and each has their own purpose
  Injuries:  
  • You're likely to have aches and pains
  Other Areas:  
  • Repetition is the norm - what infant or toddler doesn't like doing the same thing over and over and over and over
  • You have to think on your feet to answer questions or find a new way to solve an issue (dirty diaper during a road trip... too hard to stop and find a bathroom with a changing table...so you improvise!)
  • You sing random songs (at least when I was in drum corps, we did..."we're here, because we're here, because we're here, because we're here....")
  • You never want to mess up, but it's bound to happen
The most interesting similarity for me....I sing "You are My Sunshine" all the time!!!!!! Crown folks will understand!


What other similarities can you think of?

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