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?

Color Guard: My Yearly Water Speech

Every fall season I like to give my annual water speech before we get out into the long hot days of band camp. The math on this is very back-of-the-napkin and rule-of-thumb. I am not a doctor. I advise you to make your own decisions on anything related to health. My rule of thumb on soda  or caffeine (which have dehydrating effects) is that you drink a glass of water for each glass of soda/caffeine to stay hydrated (again, I'm not a doctor).

That said, I feel most students in color guard do not drink enough water to stay hydrated during rehearsals! Not only does that mean they are at risk for dehydration, it also means they're more lazy and lethargic during rehearsal!!! We cannot have that when it is an easy fix.

  What is Dehydration  

Simply put, dehydration is a condition that occurs when someone loses more fluids than he or she takes in.

  Causes of Dehydration  

In addition to illness, teenshealth.org states "...you can get dehydrated from playing sports. If you don't replace the fluid you lose through sweat as you go, you can become dehydrated from lots of physical activity, especially on a hot day. Even mild dehydration can affect an athlete's physical and mental performance."1

  Signs of Dehydration  

Thirst is an indicator of dehydration but is NOT an early warning sign. You are already dehydrated if you are thirsty. I usually find that I just start feeling off, or have a slight headach when I'm starting to get dehydrated.

Once it gets bad, you can start feeling dizzy or lightheaded, having a dry or sticky mouth, and having less or dark urine (less water in, less comes out!).

In extreme cases, if your body cannot cool itself properly, you can have heat stroke. Water isn't the only solution (because sometimes other factors can come into play) but regularly drinking water can help keep your body temperature regulated on a hot day.

  What I Say in My Water Speech  

Let's assume this information:

Item	Amount of Water	Total Water
Typical Day	6-8 glasses of water	48-64 oz of water
Per Hour of Exercise	1 glass of water	8 oz of water
Per 8 oz Soda/Tea/Coffee Consumed	1 glass of water	8 oz of water

Now let's assume a 4 hour rehearsal and 16 oz of soda consumed:

Item	Amount of Water	Total Water
Typical Day	6-8 glasses of water	48-64 oz of water
4 hour rehearsal	4 glasses of water	32 oz of water
16 oz soda at lunch	2 glasses of water	16 oz of water
TOTAL	12-14 glasses of water	96-112 oz of water

Point #1: You have to drink a LOT of water on a rehearsal day. Some folks even add more water if it's extra hot that day.

Point #2: Is it really worth drinking a soda/tea/coffee during rehearsal if you just have to drink more water to make up for it?

Point #3: Drink a glass of water before you leave the house so you're not starting the day off at a deficit. And drink water when you go home after practice.

Point #4: Drink smaller amounts periodically rather than gulping down 16 oz in one sitting. That way you're more likely to stay hydrated.

If you get down by a few glasses over the first couple days of band camp, you'll feel more tired and lazy than you really should. YES you'll be sore and tired, but why make it worse by dehydrating yourself!

One website for construction workers states they should drink an entire QUART of water every hour while working in the heat.2 Think about it in guard terms. That's four 8 oz glasses of water for every hour of rehearsal!

And for my independent guard kids (college-age mostly) who have to pay their own dues to march....

Point #5: Water is cheap :-) Stop buying expensive drinks!! Get a Britta and a reusable water bottle. Maybe I'll do the math on how much money someone spends if they drink a Gatorade per rehearsal for a winter guard season rather than water.

  I Want to Hear From You  

Do you have an annual speech of some sort that you give your team before the season starts?




Endnotes: 
1: http://teenshealth.org/teen/safety/sports_safety/dehydration.html
2: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/etools/08-006/preventingandresponding2s1.htm