What To Bring To A Marching Band Competition When You're A Spectator

My teenager decided to join the Marching Band this year and I'm thrilled! Not only is he having fun, but he's getting exercise, making new friends, is learning military-style discipline, and is using the $600 clarinet we bought him years ago. But the world of Marching Band, football games and competitions is new to me. If it's new to you, too, here's what I've learned:  

What To Bring To A Marching Band Competition When You're A Spectator

1. Cash – Schools do not take credit cards. Admission thus far has run the gamut from $8 per adult to $12 per adult with kids' rates much lower, so pack cash. Also, the Host Band usually sells snacks to raise funds for the band; it's always nice to buy a snack or two to support them.
   
   
   
   
2. Water And Food – Yes, I know I said to support the Host Band, but these competitions can get expensive! And the food they sell isn't always the most nutritious. I pack a bag with dinner (sandwiches, chicken nuggets), water, and dessert (apples, cheese, grapes). This way, my husband, daughter, and I are getting healthy food and if my daughter wants a snack later, at least she's had a good dinner. 
   
   
    
3. Stuff For Siblings To Do – Competitions can last many hours and the show doesn't always captivate younger viewers. Keep them entertained and ensure that YOU get to watch the show by bringing a coloring book and crayons, books, etc. 
   
   
   
   
4. A Blanket – The Northeast gets COLD in the fall and there's nothing like snuggling under a nice, warm blanket while you're watching the bands perform.
   
   
    
5. Stadium Cushions – I've talked to other band parents who are touting expensive stadium cushions complete with backs on them. As the person sitting behind those people, I can tell you that those seats hang over the bleachers and are a pain for the person behind you. I just ordered these cushions from Amazon and I expect they'll keep our tushies from turning into buttsickles.
    
   
   
6. Extra Warm Clothes - As I said, these events are LONG and temperatures drop.  Bring that extra sweatshirt, wear warm socks, and snuggle under the aforementioned blanket.
    
   

Obviously, it's important to remember your manners at Marching Band Competitions. 

Spectator Etiquette means:

• Support ALL of the bands, not just yours. Applaud and cheer when they do a good job (and applaud even if they don't – they're trying, after all).
  
  
• Don't leave or enter the stadium while a band is performing. It's disrespectful and distracting. 
  
  
• Avoid unnecessary talking during performances. Show some respect for the performers!
  
  
• Silence your cellphone or set it to vibrate and NEVER talk on your phone while a band is playing. It's just downright rude!
  
  
• Don't obstruct the view of others. Everyone wants to watch.
  
  
• Don't let younger children play in the stands or distract other spectators. If your child can't sit still or behave, take them to another area.  And remember that YOU'RE responsible for watching YOUR child.
  
  
• Support the Host Band financially (within reason) by visiting their concession stand.
  
  
  
  

Lastly, ENJOY THE SHOW! Each time I go to a competition, my breath is taken away not only by my son's band, but by the music, choreography, costumes, and flags! These kids put hours and hours into their performances. They work hard and as parents, we've worked hard to support them. These competitions and games are the fruition of their hard work and dedication.

ENJOY THE PAGEANTRY OF MARCHING BAND COMPETITIONS!

Have I missed something? Please comment! 

And as always, thank you for visiting my blog!

5 Tips To Extend Your Smartphone Battery Life

I'm very excited, People! After the non-battery related death of my Samsung Galaxy Note II a few weeks back, I received a replacement (you can read about my misery here). Now, in the past I did have problems with the Galaxy's battery capacity, so much so that I was carrying an extra charger on me. I mean, it's a BEAST of a phone with a large display, so if I'm using it a lot, it's not wonder that it's taking a toll on the battery. But this time, I'm determined to prolong the battery life of my beautiful device. 

I love this phone!

So are 5 tips I've learned, and what's working for me, to extend the daily charge of the battery:

Turn off location services. Okay, so most apps only want my location to “improve” my smartphone experience. But unless I'm using a Maps app, I really don't need the location on. Facebook doesn't need to know where I am.  Plus,  I'm not fond of letting people know when I'm not home (aka being “tagged”) - I mean, why not just hang a sign on your front door telling burglars you're not home?!

Periodically clear out apps. Even if you're not using an app, it can run in the background and drain battery life. I just go to “Application Manager” and turn off apps I'm sure I'm not using.

Use a very dark wallpaper. I noticed that my display was draining a LOT of power from the battery, even though I've got it pretty dim. Since my Android has an AMOLED display, each pixel on the screen drains a little power in order to light up. Using black pixels draws less power. I'm even using a dark screensaver.

Don't use a live screensaver! Yes, they're cool and I love them, but they drain battery life QUICKLY! Honestly, I just don't think they're worth it for two seconds of "oohing" and "ahhing."

Turn off wifi when driving. Smartphones are always trolling for networks. If I'm not in a place with wifi or at home, there's no reason for it to be on, draining my battery. Of course, the flip side is that when I'm in a store or at home, I need to remember to turn it back on!

These tips are DEFINITELY extending my cellphone battery!

Yep, I'm definitely getting more life out of my battery!  It's lasting longer and doesn't get as warm as it used to. Sure, I still carry a battery backup and have a charger in the car, but I'm delighted by how long an initial charge is lasting.

And in case you're wondering why I LOVE the Samsung Galaxy Note II:

• I LOVE the stylus! Whipping the stylus from the phone brings up a note screen and I can jot down phone numbers, draw, etc. The stylus also let me take screen shots which I can save to Photos.
  
  
• It's not that heavy and even though it's big, fits nicely in my purse (if I had to put it in a pocket, I might love the phone less).  And it's not cumbersome at all to talk on. 
  
  
• The display is gorgeous!  Considered a phablet, it gives me the combined benefits of a phone and a tablet. 
  
  
• The Best Faces mode on the camera which snaps 20 shots so I can choose which shot of the kids I like the best (usually it's the one where they're not blinking or squinting). 
  
  

For more on this phone, check out thislink to Cnet.com's review of my beloved device.

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THANKS FOR READING!!!

I Am Having SOOO MUCH FUN Donating A Photo!

Do you take at least one photo a day with your cellphone? I do. And it may be of stupid stuff – a reflection in the pool, my cat, or a flower along the highway. Now those random photos can do good thanks to a free app available in the Play Store called DonateAPhoto. I recently reviewed the app for The Geek Parent (the link is here) and I'm having a blast with it!

Basically, you snap a photo every day and donate it through the app. For every pic you share,

Johnson & Johnson gives $1 to the cause you choose to help from a preselected list. Each cause receives a minimum donation and appears in the app until its donation period ends or its goal is reached. Here's why it's a great app for parents:

You know all those pictures the kids have brought home from school? And all those projects they either do around the house or acquire from not only school, but parties, etc.? Photograph them and upload them to Donate A Photo! Instead of those pieces just sitting around the house, they'll benefit a charity and become part of The Donate A Photo gallery where your kids and their friends can look them up. (You'll feel less guilty, too, when you finally get rid of those pictures and projects.)

J&J claims the pictures will never be used to sell any products or for any commercial purposes.  I'm not sure if I believe them, but the photos I upload are so harmless, I'm not worried if they do use them.  And you can look up which photos you've donated and which charities you've chosen for them to benefit. You can also Tweet about your pics and share them with friends on Facebook. Note that this app is not intended for kids under 13.

I am having LOTS of fun just figuring out what I'll take a picture of on any given day and choosing which charity will benefit (my name on the site is IsItHotInHere should you run across any I've taken). So far I've donated four photos of my kids' artwork, one of our cat, and one of our town pool. I choose innocuous subjects and, obviously, not photos of my kids (I am STRONGLY against posting recognizable pictures of my children). 

This photo of Cosy helped the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals

As parents, we're pretty quick with the cellphone camera. Why not put that camera to good use by donating a photo? As far as I can tell, it's a no-brainer.

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Thank you for reading! Please visit me on The Geek Parent (www.thegeekparent.com), on my other blog, Moms Crayon (http://momscrayon.blogspot.com), and on Jersey Mom's Blog (www.jerseymomsblog.com) where I'm listed under Moms Crayon. 

7 Reasons Why You Need To Turn Off (Or At Least Relocate) Your Cellphone

Remember when THESE were our 'mobile' phones?  

I've got a monkey on my back. So do you. It's called the cellphone and we're possessed by it. We check it in stores, at work, on the blacktop, and, unfortunately, while we're in the car. It is our new “be all, end all” device that we emphatically CANNOT live without. In fact, according to Pew Research's Internet Project (http://www.pewinternet.org/2012/11/30/the-best-and-worst-of-mobile-connectivity):

• 67% of cell owners find themselves checking their phone for messages, alerts, or calls even when they don’t notice their phone ringing or vibrating. Some 18% of cell owners say that they do this “frequently.”
  

• 44% of cell owners have slept with their phone next to their bed because they wanted to make sure they didn’t miss any calls, text messages, or other updates during the night.
  
• 11% of cell owners say that they themselves sometimes worry that they are spending too much time with their phone.
  
• 7% of cell owners say that their phone makes it “a lot” harder to focus on a single task without being distracted give people their undivided attention.
  

While experts are still divided on the issue of whether “cell phone addiction” should be an actual diagnosis, I think most of us would agree that we're lost without our devices, as evidenced by the panic we all feel when we've misplaced or lost them. Our entire lives are contained within these little hand-held devices. And it's obsessive. So here are 7 reasons you need to periodically turn off your cellphone:

1. There have been numerous scientific studies that point out that our brains simply can't multitask, even though as parents, we feel we have to. Turning off your cellphone, or at least putting it away, makes it easier to focus on our kids and the task at hand. 
   
   
2. You'll be modeling better behavior. We're always telling our kids to unplug, yet so many of us constantly check our screens. Let's stop being hypocrites and start being better role models.
   
   
3. You'll sleep better. People tell me all the time that they're woken up during the night by the buzzing of their cellphones which they keep next to their beds. It happens in my house since my husband keeps the Blackberry he uses for work on his bureau. If you can't turn it off during the night, at least relocate it away from your bed and turn the “vibrate” setting off. This way you can hear the ringer in case of emergency, but won't see the light.
   
   
4. You'll be forced to think on your own and become more resourceful. Having the world at our fingertips is a good and bad thing. Sure, we can instantly look things up, but do we really need to? Re-discover your own creativity by figuring things out on your own instead of pressing a button or two to look things up.
   
   
5. You'll be forced to navigate and problem-solve on your own. Having a GPS handy all the time dims our sense of direction, allowing the computer to set our routes for us instead of us figuring it out on own own (does anyone use a real paper map anymore?). Re-discover your sense of direction or develop one by turning off the GPS and relocating your cellphone to your glove compartment or back seat.
   
   
6. You can focus on where you are instead of living in Cyberspace. My family took a hike yesterday (actually, my husband forced us to) and it showed me the value of living in the moment and appreciating where I was. Because there was no reception out in the woods, my son and I were forced to look around and saw waterfalls, wildflowers, and an incredible blue sky instead of staring at our screens as we often do.
   
   
7. You'll be breaking your own addiction to your device. Honestly, when the people you love most in the world are actually, physically with you, do you really need to have your cellphone on?
   

Hey, I'm old enough to remember a time before mobile devices, when I had to think on my own and could actually be alone, without being connected to the outside world. Sometimes it's good to reconnect with ourselves and our environment. And I think, at times, it's good to release that simian and get that darned monkey off my back!

Note:  This piece first appeared on the website www.thegeekparent.com.