Celebratory Barqs!

It started after day 1 of Marching Band practice.  Alex wasn't so sure he was going to like Marching Band, but he had said he would try it and I held him to it.  I believed it would be a great experience for him.  So he reluctantly agreed to give it a try.  The first practice was a full day practice.   In addition to his water jug for practice, I packed him a good lunch as well as a gatorade and 2 cans of Barqs root beer.  I figured I needed to throw as many good things into the experience in the hopes that he might actually grow to like it.....and Alex, like his sister Cara, loves Root beer.  They are somewhat snobbish about their root beer, with Barqs being the favorite.

When I went to pick him up that first day, I am pretty sure he began telling me about all the reasons he hated marching band in the car ride home.  He reached for his lunch bag and took out the last can of root beer which he had saved as celebration of the fact that he had actually made it through the practice and continued to be alive.  Eventually, he began waiting until he arrived home, but he would always take the can of root beer out and exclaim with great ceremony: "Celebratory Barqs!"

Luckily......thankfully, Alex grew to appreciate Marching Band and take ownership of it.  I continued to send 2 cans of root beer to each practice so that he could continue his ritual of celebrating the small successes.

This weekend has been a long and exhausting weekend, as we traveled to Syracuse for the Marching Band Championships.  I know Alex has been getting tired.  This activity includes a grueling schedule with week day practices and weekend practices and competitions.  I think you can only keep up that pace for so long....  We arrived home late this afternoon, and after doing a few errands, I set about the task of putting away Marching Band until next year....lunch bags we have used on competition trips, water jug, luggage from the weekend, Marching Band Backpack....it is all put away.  We have loved it.  We are sad to see it go....we will miss it.....and yet.....we look forward to reclaiming our old routine again.

There was just one thing left to tie up all the loose ends and commemorate this momentous occasion....  Alex started out hating marching band and has now admitted that he likes it and is proud of his successes.  I have loved watching his work ethic and responsibility grow.  He has made it through his first band camp, grueling rehearsals, a couple of parades and now....his first trip to Dome.  This calls for celebration....in the way he has celebrated his growth each step of the way with a Celebratory Barqs!!

As for me....I am in need of a Celebratory nap!

“Celebrate the journey. It’s not all about the destination. Savor all of your successes, even the small ones.” 

~ Dawn Gluskin