This is my first time being on tour and I mean really on tour, out of town for a week at a time on tour.  I wasn’t sure I knew how to be on tour.  After spending some time with many different Kindergarten classes before the performances I began to realize that all I needed to know about being on tour I had learned in Kindergarten.

Rule number one, share everything.  This rule was easy!  After week one we had all passed around a cold of some form.  Once we hit the road Sarah and Wendy learned how to share their costumes.  I shared all my tissue, gum, tic-tacs, and ibuprophen. Oh, and we all had to share hotel rooms.

#2 Don’t hit people.  I must have missed this day in Kindergarten.  During the fight over the hat I almost hit Wendy in the eye.  I scratched Wendy’s arm during one show.  Sarah hit me in the face once when I was trying to get past her to the prince.  Stacey loves to hit whoever is playing Tisbe with a pillow.  Maybe we all missed this lesson.

#3 Clean up your own mess.  I use to try to pick up all the feathers my boa would leave on gym floors, but after a while I just gave up and picked up everyone’s empty water bottles.

#4 Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.  I can’t count the number of times “I’m sorry” gets whispered back stage during the show because someone has ignored the “don’t hit people” rule.

#5 Wash your hands before you eat.  We have all learned to wash our hands or use hand sanitizer after giving high fives and shaking kids’ hands.  I think we have finally gotten rid of the sickness that we have been sharing!

#6 Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.  We never turn down baked goods.  We had a teacher in Grass Valley make us yummy banana bread.  Sarah is always making or buying us cookies.  For the triple birthday celebration I made everyone carrot cake cupcakes.  When you are on the road sweets seem to make it all better.

#7 Take a nap every afternoon.  The guys have this one covered; one of them is always taking a nap on the set bed before the show or in between shows.

#8 When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.  Travelling in a group of nine we have learned this lesson well.  We tend to stick together for meals and never seem too sick of one another that we wouldn’t be up for a game of Apples to Apples once the work day is over.

Goes to show everything you DO need to know you learned in Kindergarten!

By Jessica Vit Anderson