Life is mostly just routine. There are sparkles and glimmers of fun there in the routine, but mostly it just is. My children are part of the routine. But they are anything but routine. They are unpredictable, they are predictable, they are helpful, they are unhelpful, they are delightful, they are not, they are chaos, they are order, they are loud, they are quiet, they are mine. But, they are also magic. Tonight was magic.
This year at Alice and Fiona's school, Southwood Park, P.S., the staff organized a musical. They chose the production Annie Jr. based on the movie Annie about a little orphan girl living in an orphanage in New York. Annie was a movie I watched a lot as a kid. The version I watched was made in 1982. I'm pretty sure we owned the VHS tape.
Fiona auditioned to be one of the orphans. She wanted a part in the musical so very badly. I wanted it for her. She memorized lines and a song and practiced and practiced and practiced. I was already so proud of her dedication to it. We talked about not getting a part, about how she would handle that, but then she got a part. She won the role of the apple seller. She even had a speaking part.
As rehearsals started and then progressed she was given a second role, the cook Mrs. Pugh. She found out she would sing two songs - as part of an ensemble. We bought costumes, Ken took her to school early for morning practices and as we got closer to opening night, I got more and more nervous.
(Don't be too angry Fiona!) All I could think about was the last primary presentation. She wanted to do it so badly. So badly. She wrote her talk, she practiced and the Sunday of the presentation she fought hard through her nerves and she did it, but it was so hard and there were so many tears. So with that in my mind, I was afraid.
Tonight when I sat in the audience with Kate I watched my little apple seller march on to the stage with so much poise and so much confidence. She said her lines clearly and with confidence. She was so good. She was so strong and so brave and it was just magic.
I'm so so grateful to be a Mama and to get to see my kids struggle and do amazing things!
