Band Nerds Unite

My son, the cello player, told his dad that he was going to switch to the saxophone. I think he said it more because the sax is what daddy plays (er, played). His dad told him to stick to the cello for a few years. He seemed satisfied with this advice until this morning's conversation over breakfast about good and bad bus behavior. I told the boys that Uncle Andrew got to open the back emergency door of the bus ALL THE TIME to fetch his tuba before football games. I saw a glimmer in RO's eye. Now he either wants to switch to the tuba or be a bus driver when he grows up.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, no. They didn't approve of my answer when they asked if I ever opened the back door to get my instrument. Flutes are small. Sorry, kids. Hindsight is twenty twenty. On the first day of beginning band, I should have made sure I would earn open-the-emergency-door-on-the-bus privileges with my instrument selection.

Would I switch instruments, given the chance? I don't know if I'm as easily swayed as my fourth grader. Is my instrument too tied to my identity in high school? I never wanted to switch to tuba, especially during marching season. I have no upper body strength (Carrying a baby in a car seat is too big a struggle for me). The largest instrument I ever wanted to switch to would be the trombone. Hey kids, trombones are wiggly AND spit-filled! When you put it like that, they're waaaaaay better than flutes.

But still not a tuba.