Musical Chairs

There were a lot of clarinettes in sixth grade band, and Younger Son landed somewhere in the middle of the bunch for chair assignment.  I was excited to learn that he could challenge for a better chair several times during the school year, but he wasn't as interested in working toward first chair as his competitive nature lead me to believe he would be.  However, whenever a lower chair challenged his position, he practiced hard enough not to slide down a notch.

In seventh grade, I was proud that Younger Son auditioned for one of the few prestigious jazz band slots... and claimed one.
Further, I was delighted when he accepted the band director's invitation to learn the bass clarinette this year.  (If we could afford the time and money to get him lessons and instruments, he'd gladly learn how to play every piece of musical equipment invented.) 

Knowing how I feel about his musical abilities, Younger Son took advantage of this morning's quiet breakfast to tell me, "By the way, Mother, I made first chair."
"You did!" I exclaimed.  "How exciting!  How long ago did that happen?"
"Ever since I took up bass clarinette."
"Because there's only one?"
"Yeah."

Goof ball.