"Mommy, wake up! It's time to go to the talent show!"
I have just been bathed, lotioned, had my jammies put on me, my hair combed, read to, sung to, prayed with, and have been asleep for all of 5 seconds.
It is now time to make my way over to the "red car" so that I can be strapped into my car seat (man, those things are restrictive!) and driven to the church.
The drive takes all of 10 seconds.
I then wait for Shaelyn-Mommy to unbuckle my car seat, hold my hand across the very busy parking lot, and usher me through two doors that make very cool space-age sound effects as we go through them.
"Sit here, Mommy. Sit in this blue chair."
I then watch as Shaelyn regales me with all of her dancing talent. I clap enthusiastically. I hoot. I holler. I swell with pride.
This happens at least 5 times a day.
Three months ago, I taught the preschool girls the Mexican Hat Dance as part of our "Around the World" unit. Two weeks later, at church, a talent show was announced, and a sign up sent around.
"How perfect!" I thought. "The girls will LOVE it!" And so I signed up our little preschool class, and told an excited group of 3-year-olds that they were going to get to dance on a stage and wear costumes and have people clap for them. They were beside themselves with glee. (But not gLee.)
Caught up in the excitement, I coerced all my friends into joining me in making a fool out of myself. We decided to submit a "Mommy Dance." I should point out that at least one friend has been begging me to choreograph some kind of dance for us for at least 2 years now. So maybe I didn't have to coerce her.
I then spread my insanity to my husband, guilting him into participating as well. You'll remember the brainstorming activity we had to get the funny juices rolling. Michael and I laughed and tweaked and laughed harder and tweaked some more, deciding upon a talent that was, so very much, Michael.
Then the talent show was postponed. For 6 weeks. And all the excitement and hype fizzled out of our family. Michael even had a trip scheduled for the weekend of the talent show. So it seemed he would miss wowing the crowd with his keyboarding skills.
A short time later, we attended the ballet recital of one of Shaelyn's very close friends. The theme of the show was "Angelina Ballerina." All the girls dressed up like ballerina mice. There was a Miss Lilly. And of course Angelina. After seeing the show, Shaelyn officially changed her name to "Anja Ballerina" (as she calls her) and refused to wear anything but her ballet shoes anywhere. This was to the thrill and consternation of her mother - thrill because Shaelyn was finally excited about taking ballet and even more excited about dancing on a stage in the upcoming talent show; consternation because ballet shoes cannot be worn outside, so I ended up having to carry her into a lot of places.
A few nights before the show, Michael (thankfully) decided he could not miss his daughter's first performance on a stage - even if it was for 2 minutes on a portable stage in our church's cultural hall that has indoor/outdoor carpeting 1/2 way up the walls. He arranged a flight that would get him home hours before the show, only to have to arrange another flight out of town that left an hour after the show was supposed to start. An appeal was made to the "director" of the talent show, and all the Aagard talents were moved to the front of the program.
It was a stupendous evening. My mom was here to witness the insanity of her offspring. My preschool girls performed well. The moms, despite having lost 1/2 our number in the postponement, were totally in sync.
And Michael brought the house down.
Of course, our camera wasn't cooperating enough to capture all his magic. (It was, perhaps more unfortunately, an operator error.) But I got enough, in 3 different installments, that you get the gist. The camera also only caught the tail end of the girls' Mexican Hat Dance, so I bummed a copy off of a friend. But I included the one our camera took as well - because it allows you to see the enthusiastic bowing by our very own Anja Ballerina. She looks like a bull charging a matador, but I figured out it was because she was trying to bow while keeping her rose in her hair. And yes, please notice the ballet shoes that have been all but surgically implanted on her feet.
Maybe I was the only one dying laughing.
