If You Have Ever Doubted Your Parenting Skills….

Parenting teens is not for the weak of heart.  Some days this thankless and never-ending task is a bit like herding cats.  Other days, parenting young adults is roughly akin to policing rival gang factions.

Then there are the days that the angst and drama would send even Dr. Freud running for cover …. or at least pounding back a good stiff drink … or three.

DeKalb Band Parents can, perhaps, breathe a sigh of relief if you have ever doubted your parenting skills.

On days one and two of the Epic Ireland Adventure, your children have been polite. They have been organized … well, as organized as a group of 100 teenagers might ever be. 

They rolled with snow, de-icing and flight delays. They navigated customs and have held on to their passports.

Their groups have ebbed and flowed to accommodate their different interests and tastes. They have followed directions.  They have – for the most part - been kind to each other. 

They have absorbed history.  They have tried their hand at Irish dancing.  They’ve sampled new foods. They have reveled in tourist opportunities that likely put many of them out of their comfort zones – from lying over a castle rampart to kiss a rock to braving steep stairs and damp caves. They’ve offered their hand to parents struggling up tiny castle steps.  They’ve said “please” and “thank-you.”

They have worked at managing their money. Some have done some shopping. 

Most have gotten themselves up and about without a parent calling from the bottom of the stairs for the fifteenth time in a single morning.

They’ve humored adults with millions of photos.

In short, your children have been everything you have ever hoped they would someday grow up to be.

Today, they come together for the first time to begin fulfilling their real trip mission.  If their efforts are a fraction as strong as the mettle they have displayed so far, their performance will be nothing short of spectacular.

Pat yourselves on the back, Band Parents.  Your kids are proving in every little action that you have done a good job. And …. That this world has plenty of hope for the future.

Parenting Pride. Barb Pride.