Half-Time Shows Are a Full-Time Passion

by Liz Arrington

There are few things more “Texan” than high-school football games! Experiencing that electric feeling of cheering on incredible student athletes, the nervous back-and-forth on the scoreboard, and the pride of connection with a community invested in this common interest. Friday Night Lights- it really is so theatrical. We are entering my oldest son’s second year of high school, and suddenly the football schedule has become the center point for our family’s fall activities. Each week we sit among other parents, family members, neighbors, and friends with a kid who has a role to play in this spectacular production. I love the game, but I’m there for one thing. I’m with the Band. I’m unapologetically a Band Mom. I know I’m not alone, I’ve seen many of my local friends go through the same transition. Every weekend we’re posting pictures of our musicians- sweaty in the Texas heat under the lights in the stands. Shots of them dressed in full uniform- somehow playing a throwback song from the seventies while simultaneously walking sideways, backwards, and ending with a full-on sideways squat. Color guard members with their beautiful costumes, beaming out into the crowded stands as they twirl and toss their brightly colored flags. There’s a reason Marching Band counts for a physical education credit! As band parents- we are up sooo late on a Friday night, sitting in dark parking lots while the buses unload. Or, we’re riding those buses to volunteer as chaperones, loading and unloading heavy props, taking photos, fundraising, supporting our directors and student leaders. We’re showing up at the school on Saturdays to feed an army of band and color guard students before they head out for a day of competition. We wear the gear. Y’all. My closet is filling up with boxy printed t-shirts in blue and yellow. I’m not even embarrassed about this. What is style when you’re a band mom? We do all of this because we see the ways that being in the band shapes our kids into incredible young adults. Their excitement about the music and the showmanship, the sense of family they build with one another. Over 250 high school students working together toward a common goal, it’s something to behold. It’s really hard not to get swept up in the energy and enthusiasm, the sound and the incredible way it all comes together. It means so much to be a part of something like this. For me, it’s band. But for those countless other families sitting in those stands on Friday nights, I have no doubt there are parents just like me that can say that supporting their child’s high school activity gives them the same sense of purpose and satisfaction. Football moms, Dance moms, Cheer moms, Softball Moms, Baseball Moms… the list goes on and on. It’s not about reliving the glory days, or channeling your own unfulfilled high school dreams. It’s about nurturing and sharing in an activity that fuels your child. Being there to witness their growth and maturity, to share with them in a sense of identity and vision for the future. To communicate your support in a meaningful, purposeful way. I think that’s what contributes so much to the energy that fills the stadium on Friday Nights, it’s filled with a thousand hearts beating with pride and love for these students. And really great music.

Liz Arrington combines her background as a professional children’s therapist with her love of music to provide early childhood music and movement classes to families of Cypress. Outdoor, Weekday, and Saturday classes available. See more at

www.songfulbeginnings.com