1 Mother 2 Another

Maddie’s school does an annual
talent show – something I distinctly do NOT remember from my
own childhood. Would I have jumped at the chance to get up and do
my thing, or would I have hesitated in fear? I honestly have no
idea.


But Maddie got up and did her thing.

Last year Maddie and her friend Elise
performed a lovely selection from Swan Lake, and this year
they were eager to do another ballet. After much discussion, they
decided to perform a piece from The Nutcracker. And since
they’re firm believers in “the more, the
merrier”, they added a couple more gal pals to the cast.


Now, I love my daughter and her friends, but it is no secret that
working with children is not, um, my forte. I always say that I can
teach kids as soon as they’re old enough to respond to
sarcasm, or right around junior high. So while I was willing to
help the girls put together a lovely talent show offering, I was
less enthusiastic about the number of rehearsals it would take us
to learn a dance from scratch. Which meant that we took the piece
the girls are learning in ballet class for their upcoming recital,
and shoved the dance into some Nutcracker music.


The end result was, amazingly, quite wonderful.


We still had a few rehearsals, and the girls had plenty of nerves.
But yesterday afternoon four sweet little girls danced their way
across the school gym in almost perfect unison, and I have to tell
you, it was quite lovely.


And as proud as I was of how well they danced, I was even more
proud of the fact that they simply got up in the first place. I
can’t imagine being six years old and saying, “Hey,
folks, I can do this thing and I think it’s so good and
interesting that I KNOW you will want to see it so here it
is.”


We watched several first graders get up and play piano, sing a
song, do a card trick, even whip off some martial arts. And yes,
there were a couple six-year-olds playing Gilbert and Sullivan or
Beethoven better than some grown-ups could, but on the whole it was
simply sweet little glimpses into those lives, what they like and
enjoy.


Oh, and a whole lot of bravery.


Someone asked me if it’s painful to sit through amateur
performances, and I’ll admit, yes, it often is. Turning off
my inner critic is difficult. But the person watching the talent
show yesterday wasn’t a theatre veteran – just a mom,
marveling at our awesome, brave little kids.


You go, kiddos.