To Perform or Not To Perform, That is The Question

So you were born with thespian blood but that doth not a performer make, and you know what, it's okay my darling it is okay.  Me and Daddy are cool with it.

Aaron today had his first school Xmas Show at the grand old age of two and a half.  Bless his Santa hat and cotton socks.

Yes there were tears.  Lots and lots and lots of them.  But before the tears he'd looked cute, like this:

So what happened? Why is that room empty in the photo above.

Well the show was at 10:30 today but Aaron doesn't go to nursery on Friday so we arrived at nursery at 10:00 (asked to arrive at 10:15) and there were parents and kids already in reception (foyer).

Once reception got full a member of staff walked us over to the school, and it was a longer walk than I expected, down the side of a long building.

We arrived in a big stark hall with a stage and curtains and everything (school not nursery).

We sat in the front row, us more nervous than Aaron - Daddy had taken the day off work, as was the case with many parents.

But then, his class and the class above all arrived, after maybe 15 minutes.  Aaron was expected to tag on, and jump on stage and perform...... without having chance to connect with staff or friends, without having a warm up or being part of the buzz.

Even adults sometimes like to meet someone on the way to an event rather than walk in cold.... but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

So he spent the whole performance sitting on a member of staff's knee crying.

If I had a Sliding Doors moment, in the other reality, when we arrived at 10 a.m. this pushy Mum, instead of being polite would have gone through and let Aaron have half an hour of connecting with his friends and favourite staff members and he'd have been high like his crew and with his crew when he entered that big scary assembly room.  From here on in, my son is more important than manners....!  I know how much Aaron loves to sing and dance and have every confidence that's how it would have been. One reason I know, is that I am quite often LATE when I drop him off in the morning.  He is much happier going in first thing, when he can connect with everyone, rather than being "late to the party" like he was today.

I videoed the whole thing and looking at it, they all have special paper hats on that they'd clearly spent the morning making.

Anyway, when he watches the videos he sings and dances along with them, even though he is crying on screen.  He loves the songs.  He's spent this afternoon watching the videos I took this morning, again and again.

I am not mad at him for not being a performing monkey.  I can totally relate to how he must have felt.

Anyway, do whatever you need to do to make your child feel comfortable if you have a school or nursery Christmas performance coming up.

Liska xx