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| My not-so-angelic angel |
The first school nativity has a special place in parents' hearts - it's a chance to see your little one, often in their stage debut, dressed up and looking adorable. As a result there's a huge amount of anticipation prior to the event and your expectations are raised. Only trouble is, the reality can bring you down to the ground with a bump, much like baby Jesus when little Mary decides to drop him mid-play. (I hasten to add that didn't happen in yesterday's nativity, but I have seen it happen before.)
So here's what I expected from the nativity versus what really happened.
THE COSTUME
Expectation: I would suddenly transform into a crafting genius creating a beautiful angel's costume.
Reality: I am not a crafting genius. The costume consisted of a too-small fairy dress, sparkly cardigan and tights (non-matching) to cover up the fact the dress is too small, wings I hastily borrowed from a friend when I realised with days to spare that she would need wings (why did this not occur to me earlier??! I blame sleep deprivation) and a wonky halo made of pipe cleaners and tinsel. But she looked cute anyway.
PREPARATION
Expectation: Cooing at her efforts to learn all the carols and joining her in a rendition of 'Away in a Manger'.
Reality: Clenching my jaw as, instead of going to sleep, she lays in bed singing 'Ding Dong Merrily On High' with gusto.
ARRIVAL
Expectation: Get there 20 minutes early to grab seats close to the front, affording me a perfect view of my little cherub.
Reality: Get there 20 minutes early to find a horde of people already there and flowing out of the churchyard, squeezing into the only seats I can find near the back, affording me a perfect view of the backs of people's heads.
THE PERFORMANCE
Expectation: Eleanor would behave perfectly and stand exactly where she - oh who am I kidding? She would shove her way to the front, wander off halfway through or even potentially create a cameo line for herself.
Reality: In this case I was pleasantly surprised. She wasn't perfectly behaved and there was one instance of shoving to the front, but from what I could see she did really well.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Expectation: I come away with an array of heart-melting photos of my little girl in action.
Reality: I come away with a lot of blurry pictures, some with Eleanor in but mostly she'd moved before I could zoom in enough.
EMOTIONS
Expectation: I glow with pride and hold back the tears.
Reality: I glow with pride and hold back the tears.
At the end of the day, no nativity will be perfect - let's face it, it involves kids!! But it will still be a treasured memory for many years.
Hehe - I always cry, usually the minute I see his slightly frightened little face!
ReplyDeleteTry costume looks fab, you totally got away with it :)
Ahh bless him! Mine didn't look remotely nervous, just a bit fed up of having to sit/stand still so much! Thanks re the costume, to be fair pretty much any costume looks cute on a small person!
DeleteI love this! Yes - homemade costumes are often more stressful and a little bit naff than if the school just bought them to use every year (our school does this - woohoo!) but the overwhelming pride seeing them up on the stage doing their thang is pretty awesome. I now know what my mum felt like when I was judging her for crying with pride when I was young haha xx
ReplyDeletePart of me wishes I'd just bought a costume but I didn't almost out of principle, she had a dress that would work so why should I buy a costume she'd probably only wear once?! I managed not to cry (just) but was very emotional!
DeleteAwwww ... lovely post. The expectations and anticipation of wanting it to go well for them and everyone else. I can't be trusted to make costumes; well done for getting something together. I can definitely relate with the blurry pictures and the mixture of emotions with wanting them to nail it and hoping nothing goes wrong. #UKParentBloggers
ReplyDeleteTurns out I can't be trusted to make costumes either, luckily I don't think she'll need one again! We're lucky that we have our church nativity too which she did really well in and I managed to get a decent video of her part, makes up for the blurry pictures a bit although there is still something social about the school nativity I think.
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