On Sunday, it was the children's primary program. This is that exciting time each year where all of the children from the ages of 11 down to 3 perform for their parents, friends and relatives. They sing songs and they each have a small speaking part.
This is a time for parents to beam and show a moment of pride for their children's abilities as stage performers. These are times when parents wish filming with a camcorder would be acceptable, because chances are, one might end up with the winning video for ABC's AFV (America's Funniest Videos).
As a parent of three children who are within this age range, I took turns smiling, winking and encouraging each of my boys as they sang. Because they are boys, they are competitive by nature. I had to make sure that I gave equal attention to each of them, or it may create ill feelings. "Dad, every time I looked at you, you were looking at Jeff. I knew that you liked Jeff more than me!"
On occasion, I turned my head and looked back at all of the parents. This is sometimes even more entertaining than watching the children. Parents were showing big Cheshire cat grins, with their index fingers pointing at their cheeks, eyes wide like those of a doll with large buttons for eyes. "Look at me honey, smile big when you sing....like this!"
Some parents were mouthing the words to the songs and some were wagging their fingers at their children for their bad behavior...scolding them into submission from 50 feet away.
While Coralee and I were enjoying the program, our 2-year old daughter made her great escape from the bench we were sitting on. She ran up to the front of the chapel, climbed the stairs, and then took her place next to her brother, Nate. Coralee and I looked at each other with fear in our eyes. "Oh, crap! Now what do we do? Does one of us make the jog up the aisle and retrieve her, or is it best to let her do her thing and hope she doesn't bring attention to herself."
We tried motioning her down from the stand by curling the index finger inward in a fashion that says, "come here!" I imagine that motion looks sort of like a live worm on the end of a fishing hook. The end result would generally be the same as a fish taking a bite on a hook. Once she would end up in my lap, she would writhe and twist like a fish, fighting for its life, knowing the life as a carefree and wild spirit was about to expire. The only problem is....she is a smart fish. She was not interested in the worm.
For the most part, she was good. She faced the congregation and pretended to sing. Only the top of her hair was visible. As she would tippee-toe, occasionally, you could see her eyes peering over the banister. I kept checking over my shoulder to see what other parents had noticed my plight. Fortunately, their eyes were all focused on their own children.
A few minutes went by, "hey, she might actually get away with this without embarrassing us too much."
It only took a few minutes, however, and she was bored with her current surroundings. She decided then to climb on chairs and was eagerly making her way to the podium where there is a microphone. This is when Coralee made her move, like a SWAT member, carefully strafing her way into the pit without taking fire from a sniper. Coralee moved with the agility of a cat. It was only a matter of seconds and Coralee and my daughter were with me again on the pew. Mission Accomplished!
This is a time for parents to beam and show a moment of pride for their children's abilities as stage performers. These are times when parents wish filming with a camcorder would be acceptable, because chances are, one might end up with the winning video for ABC's AFV (America's Funniest Videos).
As a parent of three children who are within this age range, I took turns smiling, winking and encouraging each of my boys as they sang. Because they are boys, they are competitive by nature. I had to make sure that I gave equal attention to each of them, or it may create ill feelings. "Dad, every time I looked at you, you were looking at Jeff. I knew that you liked Jeff more than me!"
On occasion, I turned my head and looked back at all of the parents. This is sometimes even more entertaining than watching the children. Parents were showing big Cheshire cat grins, with their index fingers pointing at their cheeks, eyes wide like those of a doll with large buttons for eyes. "Look at me honey, smile big when you sing....like this!"
Some parents were mouthing the words to the songs and some were wagging their fingers at their children for their bad behavior...scolding them into submission from 50 feet away.
While Coralee and I were enjoying the program, our 2-year old daughter made her great escape from the bench we were sitting on. She ran up to the front of the chapel, climbed the stairs, and then took her place next to her brother, Nate. Coralee and I looked at each other with fear in our eyes. "Oh, crap! Now what do we do? Does one of us make the jog up the aisle and retrieve her, or is it best to let her do her thing and hope she doesn't bring attention to herself."
We tried motioning her down from the stand by curling the index finger inward in a fashion that says, "come here!" I imagine that motion looks sort of like a live worm on the end of a fishing hook. The end result would generally be the same as a fish taking a bite on a hook. Once she would end up in my lap, she would writhe and twist like a fish, fighting for its life, knowing the life as a carefree and wild spirit was about to expire. The only problem is....she is a smart fish. She was not interested in the worm.
For the most part, she was good. She faced the congregation and pretended to sing. Only the top of her hair was visible. As she would tippee-toe, occasionally, you could see her eyes peering over the banister. I kept checking over my shoulder to see what other parents had noticed my plight. Fortunately, their eyes were all focused on their own children.
A few minutes went by, "hey, she might actually get away with this without embarrassing us too much."
It only took a few minutes, however, and she was bored with her current surroundings. She decided then to climb on chairs and was eagerly making her way to the podium where there is a microphone. This is when Coralee made her move, like a SWAT member, carefully strafing her way into the pit without taking fire from a sniper. Coralee moved with the agility of a cat. It was only a matter of seconds and Coralee and my daughter were with me again on the pew. Mission Accomplished!
I so wish you had a camcorder.
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