Em's First Concert

Not being too imaginative, I had thought when my kids left grade school I had seen my last Christmas Concert. Not so, I can see now we will be going to these for a long time. Our beautiful granddaughter Emmily is in kindergarten and last night was in a play called Ms Scrooge. It was a musical in the grand tradition of grade school musicals and it turned out the two towns of Otis and Mariaville to fill the gym at the Otis School.

Em was dressed in a knee lenth red gown with white fur trim. To say she was cute would be a huge understatement. Radiantly beautiful and quite poised with an angelic smile, she was very comfortable being the center of attention as the local papparazi pushed and shoved people aside clammoring to take a seemingly endless stream of pictures of this holiday princess. (I don't think mom or the two grandmothers actually hurt anyone pushing to the front to get pictures.) Fathers aren't aggressive enough to get good pictures and if they have a camera you can hear angrily whispered orders: "Just go up there--no, you get back up there and take the pictures."

There were other kids there too, but I spent my time trying to get a glimpse through the heads of the people sitting in front of us of the princess in red.

Holiday concerts are funny, the older kids are self conscious and speak and sing at a level that can't be heard or distinguished above the kid next to him. As a result the first segment of these concerts grades 5-8 are always torturous for audience and performers alike. There are rare exceptions. Sometimes one of the kids is missing the brainchip that reminds them they could be made fun of for months- maybe years. "Hey remember when we were in grade school and you kept singing and everyone else stopped. Ha, Ha, Ha. Yeah well that's why you can't get a date with Charlene. She remembers it too. Ha, Ha, Ha." There aren't many that don't have that chip.

The young kids want to be the center of attention and don't care a wit about mistakes. Mistakes are good too, more attention. "Yes, I am glad you could all come and see me tonight." So they are more fun to watch and hear sing because they don't care. It's hard to care what Charlene thinks when you know she has cooties.

So Em made her debut and by now, is so caught up in getting ready for Christmas, it is probably a dim memory. Grandpa will remember for her.