Skyler's rocking the trombone

Last week Skyler had his first concert band concert with his trombone. His learning to play the trombone has been a rocky ride this school year. He took it because my husband and I recommended that he take it (we didn't make him take it, but we definitely pushed him). We felt it would help him in many areas of life -- from making friends to learning and practicing diligence. He didn't necessarily want to take it because let's face it, learning an instrument is hard. And it requires practice time, which cuts into a kid's time to do whatever else he wants to do. But he did it anyway.
And way back in August after we bought this shiny new instrument, class began. He met the teacher and realized quickly that she's no pushover. Ms. Coffer expects her students to do their best every day, and if she thinks they're not giving it, she lets them know. This can be hard for a sensitive person like Skyler.
So about halfway through the school year, Skyler was begging to get out of the class. He thought the teacher didn't like him, etc., etc. I talked to the teacher and she assured me that she liked him very much, but (just as I suspected) she wanted him to do his best. So Skyler stuck with playing. And a month later, when he had to decide whether or not to stay in band in seventh grade, he decided he would take it another year. He had made friends in the class, and I think he even liked knowing how to play.
As he and his trombone classmates prepared for last week's concert he even got excited about the songs they were to play. And during rehearsal when it was all the instruments playing together, he said it sounded awesome.
And he was right. We (myself, husband, Lindsay and three grandparents) enjoyed the concert last week so much. The sixth-grade band sounded amazing. As did the seventh grade. And the eighth grade performed one song with the lights out, and some of them got up in the dark and walked out into the audience. It was very cool.
Hopefully Skyler will stick with it for another few years. I want him to have all the benefits of playing an instrument and being in band, but I also want an excuse to go to the band performances. There can never be enough music in life.