Going to the Disneyland with the Middle School Band

This is a picture from The Pea's first 6th grade concert.  She's been playing the flute since 5th grade, and she liked it so much she decided to stick with band throughout middle school.  Band is a big commitment; it takes up 2 precious electives every year, and it requires time for practice as well as concerts.  Band isn't the most glamorous choice of middle school electives either; the stereotype of the band nerd is alive and well even today.

I'm really proud of The Pea's commitment to band. She's getting all the benefits of a musical education, and she has made a really great group of friends, who are secure enough and self-confident enough to ignore the stereotypes and proudly call  themselves band nerds.


This year, she's getting an extra benefit to being part of the middle school band.  This year, they're going on a trip to the Disneyland Resort as part of Disney's Performing Arts program!  It's going to be a fun-filled 4 days with friends.  The band is going to take part in a special sound recording session, and perform at Disney's California Adventure for park guests.  There will be plenty of time to experience the park with friends. The Pea is so excited!

A big trip like that needs chaperones, so guess who volunteered to go?  That's right, this Disney lover!  So I've got double the excitement: I'm excited for her, and I'm excited for myself.

The Pea begged and pleaded with me not to go ("I want my independence!"/"It's so embarrassing to be the one whose MOM is the chaperone!"), and I in turn begged and pleaded with her to let me go ("I love Disney as much as you do!"/"I want to blog about the program, think of this as a blogging business trip!"/"You've been on dozens of big trips and I've never chaperoned you for ANY of them, and now that you're entering high school I'll never get the chance!").

In the end, I guilted her into letting me sign up, but only on the condition that neither of us acknowledges the other's existence, which is fine by me.  I do want her to experience Disney on her own, but I just couldn't pass up the chance to learn more about the Disney Performing Arts Program.  The funny thing is, now she's seeing the benefits of having her mom tag along, because she's been asking me how strict I'm going to be about enforcing bedtime rules and no-room-hopping rules.  Ha!  We're going to stay out of each other's way as much as possible and we're going to be just fine.

In just a couple of hours I'm going to walk to The Pea's school and start the chaotic bus loading process. I'm so excited to be experiencing Disney in a totally different way.  I can't wait!