Fall Festival

I received an e-mail this afternoon from Maria's teacher reminding me that Maria needed to be at Dordt tonight for a concert. I e-mailed her back and asked if the sixth graders were attending a concert together. Turns out that Maria was in the concert tonight. It was the SCCS fall music festival. When school started, we opted to have Maria quit orchestra in order to have more time for educational support. I didn't realize that the result of that decision was simply that we traded orchestra for choir. Maria loves to sing and I'm glad she has this opportunity, I just wish we knew about it sooner.

I e-mailed the teacher back and asked if there was anything specific that Maria needed to wear and was told she should wear Sunday clothes. Less than an hour before the concert was to start, Maria informed me that she needed to wear black pants and a white shirt. I showed her the teacher's e-mail, but she was adamant about needing to wear black pants and a white shirt. A flurry of searching ensued. The first couple white shirts I came up with were way too small, barely reaching her belly button. We finally settled for a white t-shirt plucked fresh from the dryer and black pants that were only a little too short.

Slightly frazzled, we set off for the auditorium and arrived at the last minute only to discover that the teacher was right and Maria was wrong (you guessed that already, didn't you). There was Maria in her too short pants and her white t-shirt among all her classmates in their Sunday finery. Sigh. Meanwhile, the rest of us settled into the pew for the long haul. You likely remember the joy of elementary school band or orchestra concerts (five variations on the song Bingo, anyone?). Put both together, add a few choirs, and mix in hanging onto a wiggly Jon Felipe the whole time and you have a good picture of our evening. It was a long night.

The fifth and sixth grade choir were near the end. Maria struggled with the stairs up to the stage and fell. Someone hauled her back up and she made it to her spot behind the piano where we could barely see her. She did sing well and clearly knew her part so it all turned out okay. As we were walking out of the auditorium, another parent told me that his daughter comes home from school every day with stories about Jon Felipe. I told him I didn't want to know. Good thing tomorrow is Friday.