Two teenage boys plus football season equals no rest for the parents! Please pass the No Doze?

Friday Night by wikimedia.

It's that time of year again.  Football season is in the air.  Although I wish the air would cool a bit.  When you have two teenage boys it means a non-stop life for the next four months.  But really, it started months ago. My younger son is the football player.  He spent everyday of his summer at school with training and conditioning.  My older son is in the marching band.  This year he is band captain so that means his season started the second week of July.  We haven't played a single game yet, but there already has been training camp, band camp, leaders week, picture days, and more practices than I can count.  And don't get me started on the dirty clothes!


I am a huge baseball fan, but I do agree with Howie Long's Hall of Fame speech when he said, "Baseball may be America's past time but Football is its passion".  Nothing else engages the entire American family life like football. Friday night's in America represent a culmination of the entire community and school system. Obviously, the players themselves have worked, practiced and trained for months leading up to the game. The cheerleaders have been to camps, trained newbies and learned to toss little girls high in the air.  Unfortunately, there are no cheerleaders at baseball games.  The marching band has work for months learning their school's fight song, how to march, and a halftime show.  The little kids will play their own football games behind the stands, and the parents will buy raffle tickets and noise makers to support their local high school.  Savvy politicians will attend and shake as many hands as possible, and police officers will gladly sign up for crowd detail just to get a chance to watch some football.  The local newspaper reporter and photographer will surely be there to give their subscribers content that they definitely want.  You can't name any other American event that brings together the entire community.  No political rally, town forum, or fireworks display can bring out as many people at a Friday Night High School football game.


For parent's it a labor of love.  Work all day, then come stand at the gate to sell raffle tickets, then cheer own the team, then go home and wash dirty uniforms.  It's sounds horrible I know, but the total community experience for our kids is an education in itself.  Yes, by mid September I'll be headed to the local pharmacy for some form of No Doze, and start drinking those horrible tasting energy drinks but it's all worth it.  The lessons of competition, the lessons of music, and the lessons of community are all worth the effort.  With all the negatives in our country today, Friday Night Football stands out as one of the best attributes of today's Americana!  So, Geaux Rebels, and I hope you enjoy this wonderful football season!

My Friday Night Boys!

Back to School Shopping; A Dad's Nightmare!

Image by Elev8.

It's August!  It's hot!  And it's time to go back to school shopping!  Double dislike.  Being a stay at home Dad has many advantages.  I love being at every football game, band performance, track meet, and camp out.  Making connections with my two boys on a daily basis is very rewarding.  Then there is the mass hysteria called, back to school shopping.  Can someone please dig up Dante' Alighieri's bones and breath life into them so he can add one more level of hell to his Divine Comedy?  Don't get me wrong, I am all in for education.  I want my boys to be well equipped for the year ahead, but there must be a better way.


My boys are going into the 8th and 12th grades.  Yes May is going to be an all out graduation blowout at the Bordelon residence.  So it's mostly high school supplies on the list.  Their lists include items such as binders, three subject notebooks, index cards, and graphing calculators.  You know the kind of calculators that can do math without numbers, but get high score at the register.  There's also some what I would refer to as the kindergarten leftovers, such as color pencils, eight pack markers, and paste.  I guess you're never to old to eat some paste.  My problem is in the going to the store and fighting hand to hand combat to retrieve all these things.  I don't mind being the shopper for the family.  I've learned what days are safe to slip into the local Walmart and what days to stay far, far away from that Hell.  For reasons beyond me every store has to have a special section just for back to school shopping and it has to have big, bright, flashing signs to advertise it's existence.  I think it's a waste of money to make all these signs when the three ring circus battle can be seen from the interstate.  Surely, everyone loves to be in a death match with the mother of three screaming kids over the 99 cent pack of markers!  And who doesn't enjoy the sweet sounds of a seven year old screaming, "But I want the Transformers back pack Mommy!"  *insert sniffling*  Everyone should have the heart warming satisfaction of watching twelve year old girls rip apart the last One Direction notebook.  It truly is something to experience.

Picture courtesy of the Daily Beast

This year my two job working wife was able to help me with this nifty little chore.  Actually, we used half of our date night and slipped into the Target store.  We thought, this store is much more high scale and should have a much more organized back to school section.  We were wrong!  I've seen natural disasters look better than these three aisles.  My wife handled it with style and grace, while I did everything I could to rush the operation as much as I could.  On the ride home, from date night, I couldn't help but think, "there has to be a more civilized way to go about preparing our Sons for education".  In the end our kids have all the school supplies they need.  Not to mention the school uniforms, shoes, cleats, gym clothes, band shirts, saxophone reeds, updated eye prescriptions, mouth pieces, socks, underwear, and a few other must have items.  All will be forgotten with the first day of school.  Our focus will turn to remembering and cherishing every moment of their Senior and 8th grade years.  As much as I love being a stay at home Dad, I guess there will never come a day where shopping is a job perk.

Hope everyone has a happy and successful school year!

The case for Music

Image by wikipedia

Most know that I have been very involved with my kid's school band.  I have proudly headed up the band booster program for the last two years.  I have been the pied piper for logistical and financial needs of our band.  I've helped our school gain acceptance into a ground breaking A+ program for Arts.  This program will help our school incorporate art into every aspect of learning.  Their are many forms of art.  Art can be as simple as drawing, as beautiful as dancing, as tasty as food, and an emotional piece of  music.  So I wanted to take the time to show why music is so important in the process of learning.

High School students that study music have been shown in study after study to hold a higher GPA than non music students.  There is a reason for this.  Music is a lesson in math.  Every note is counted against a beat, therefore every note is a fraction.  Kids playing music are constantly doing math and figuring out fractions.  The College Entry Examination Board has reported that students with music training score 44 percent higher on Math than students with no Art training.  Kids are also getting a lesson in languages while learning music.  Many music terms are still in Latin such as crescendo, diminuendo, vivace, and many others.  They are learning root words that give them insight to some of the obscure vocabulary words their English Lit. teacher throws at them. In 1994 a study of 7,500 University students showed the music majors scored the highest reading levels of all majors including English, biology, and chemistry.  Studying music is also a study of  History. Music students learn about musical movements such as Renaissance, Medieval, and Contemporary that gives them a glimpse into the history of our world.  It's also a look at our own American History.  The transformation of Folk into Country and Blues into Rock n Roll is an insight to music kids that others miss out on.  History and Geography scores are usually 40 percent higher for kids studying music.  Playing music (as well as other group artistic activities) helps kids with their social skills.  Learning to be in sync with others in art teaches camaraderie and leads to 71 percent fewer disciplinary problems.

Image courtesy of wikimedia

The case for music in learning is astounding, but it also has benefits for the family.  Playing music brings feelings of joy and euphoria to the brain.  Kids that play music believe their music brings their families closer together.  Kids entering college, having played music, have less problems adjusting.  It has to do with having conquered performance anxiety.  The top academic countries in the world, such as Japan and the Netherlands place high emphasis on music education starting in elementary school.  So please, introduce your kids to music.  Lots of different types of music. Then plant the seed, that they can take lessons and play the music that stimulates their souls. Your kid will thank you in the long run and their test scores will reflect a positive return on your investment.  Now excuse me while I jam out before going to bed.


Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.
Plato