Friday, December 19, 2008

Where do you find your Christmas Spirit?

If there's one thing that has always gotten me in the Christmas spirit, it's my children's Christmas plays. When my oldest (now 17) was little and in Montessori, he was absolutely the cutest Christmas tree you've ever seen! (Sorry, I had to scan these from a scrapbook!) Last year, my daughter was still in After School Care at Montessori, and she had the lead in the play, as Martina the Moose. Her singing was fantastic! The play was a hit. In previous years, she was Audrey Hepburn (the Ghost of Christmas Past) and one year she was a little girl baking cookies with her Grandma. C had worked her way up in the ranks, so to speak, and has a beautiful singing voice. She's not afraid to get up in front of people to sing because she's been doing it since she was four years old. This year was C's first year out of Montessori and we were left with no Christmas play. How would I get into the spirit without cardboard gingerbread house sets, flubbed lines, toy soldiers and crying two year olds? We called the school and found out when their play was and went anyway! As we approached the door, a couple of ladies said to C, "Oh, you were the Moose last year! You were wonderful". (beam!) When we walked in, all of the teachers (including Ms. Alvarez, who had been J's teacher 15 years ago, gave C big hugs. The younger kids were delighted to see her and several parents commented that they missed her singing. Oh, behold! There were crying two year olds onstage, one who pulls her dress up, one who dances like a maniac, one who waves non stop to his parents. We had off key singing, darling red velvet dresses and tiny bow ties. And then, at the end of the show, the older kids got up to sing. I saw a beautiful angel with glittery white wings and... be still my heart....there was my son's Christmas Tree costume -- on a little boy, singing his heart out. (we had donated the costume to the school, as it was too cute not to use every year). It started at my toes and it worked it's way up my spine and exploded above my head as the kids onstage sang Adeste Fidelis. It was beautiful! Christmas spirit was here.

4 comments:

Vee said...

Oh, Jana, those are wonderful photos and stories. I love the one of C as a rock star moose, and the expression of the little girl on the left watching C is priceless. She also makes a lovely Hepburn. As for the Christmas tree costume, I'm glad it's still around. That's about the cutest Christmas costume ever!

Life's a Beach! said...

Great photos and story Jana! Miss C is just adorable no matter what she does! My son grew up in the land of the always politically correct, so no Christmas plays. But he did unknowingly infect about 75 other kids with chicken pox at a pre-school dance recital! :)

Moongrl722 said...

LOL, Beck! The Dance of the Chicken Pox! Since Montessori is a private school, they can do Christmas plays and be as politically incorrect as they want to.

Thanks, Vee. It's a lot of fun to watch. I'll try to get a video and imbed it.

Miss C's next gig is singing Taylor Swift's 'Love Story' at her school's Variety Show in January and she has an audition for a children's theater production of 'Annie'.

jeanie said...

I do believe Miss C was born to play Hepburn! Gorgeous! Love the tree although it probably embarrasses J now. Kinda like Beck's little Pilgrim.



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