Band Geek

To my surprise, Darrius wants to join the band. I always got the impression that he was too cool to play an instrument. The reason behind his change of heart - his 2 buddies (I'll call them Heckle and Jeckle) decided they wanted to join band this year. At first I was hesitant. I mean...that's money that we have to spend either renting or buying an instrument. I don't want him to be in band for two weeks, decides that he doesn't like it, and wants to quit. That is money wasted. This is what Alfred and I told him when he approached about this. So I went ahead and told him that he could join band and I that I would sign the permission slip. The next step was for Darrius to decide what instrument he wanted to play. To my surprise, he chose the clarinet. The reasoning behind that choice? Heckle and Jeckle are playing the clarinet. I'm hoping Darrius grows out of this soon - wanting do everything his friends want to do. Luckily, it has turned out to be a good thing. I've been trying to get Darrius to play an instrument for 5 years. Yes, I've been pushing my child since he was 5 to pick up an instrument. There's nothing wrong with that. Anyway, we ordered the clarinet from Amazon.com. We got a good deal. It was around $120 bucks. It was cheaper to buy than to rent. Darrius has gone to two band classes. So far he is liking it. He is practicing which is a good thing (but not so good for our ears). I hope he sticks with it. I wish I played an instrument when I was his age. I think he can get very far in life knowing how to read music and play an instrument. Alfred told Darrius that by next year, Darrius better be able to play him "some Kenny G". LOL! Darrius looked at his dad and asked, "who's Kenny G?" Alfred told him don't worry about, just be able to play it. Hahahaha!