Playin' Hooky

So. My kids aren't in band. In fairness, M can't be yet, but she won't be. 

I have a lot of reasons. Including but not limited to: 

1. I don't like band.
2. I don't like the band teacher. (Might be petty, but if I don't trust an educator, why would I opt into her teaching my kids?)
3. Band is expensive. A per-semester fee. Books and music. Instrument rental/purchase. Private lessons.

"But everyone is in band!" And actually at our school that's true. 5 kids total in 5th grade are not in band. But why is "everyone else is doing it" a bad thing 99.9% of the time but is an okay excuse when it comes to band? 

To be clear: art is very important to our family. Husband and I both have art degrees and are proud of that. Most of our extracurricular activities are art-based. I genuinely believe my kids have seen more theater productions, concerts, and other performances than their peers. 

This is not about not supporting the arts. It's the culture of band at our school. Practicing is optional and doesn't weigh into your grade. Most kids don't even bring their instruments home on a daily basis, if at all. And everyone goes on and on about how good they are. 

They aren't. The concerts are painful. 

There are some very talented kids. But most are okay at best. 

Now, C never wanted to be in band. But M would. Except I have a lot of experience with trying to get her to practice piano. And she never really practiced her 4th grade recorder. And therefore, it's a big ole no from us. 

Anyway... one of the reasons all the kids want to be in band is that at the end of the year the band kids take a trip to an amusement park. Today was that day. 

The 5th grade teachers took the non-band kids to a movie last year and they had a fun day. 

This year the plan was for the kids to help pack up the classroom for summer. 

So I told C we could play hooky. 

So we did. 

We started with a fresh summer haircut for him. Then went to Walgreens for a read and feed treat next week. Then to Michael's. C thought this squirter looks like M's Owala. It totally does. 

Then we went to Books a Million and out to lunch. 

We spent a few hours at home chilling before we went to pick up M from school. I took them both out for ice cream. 

Then we went to solve the Mystery of the Mayan Medallion before the exhibit closes next week. 

Turns out we really liked playing hooky! And now it's a long weekend!