All week long he kept saying that he didn't want to do it. This is par for the course, TB is in no way a performer. I definitely do not see any American Idol auditions in his future. I made him do it anyway and I am not sure that was for the best, but he muddled through it and it's done.
Basically they had 100 kindergartners up there on the big stage in the high school auditorium that was jam packed for 45 minutes under those blaring stage lights singing. It was very much an exercise is excess. None of the 5 and 6 year old's sang for the whole entire time and about halfway through they all started getting fidgety and wanted to leave. Once a kid got off the stage and started running around. The teacher tried to reign him in but he kept it up until she put him in timeout and finally the mom came up and got him off the stage.
After that it was downhill. TB and another child started crying and proceeded to cry for the entire 20 minutes til the end of the show. He wanted to be done, he wanted it to be over. He never got off the stage or ran from it, rather he just sat there absolutely miserable and cried until it was over.
It was heartbreaking. I wanted to go up there and get him off that stage and tell the teacher that this was too much for him, but I didn't. The worse part was that he was in the end row standing right next to the teacher crying his heart out and she did nothing. When I couldn't find him after the show I mentioned it to her and she blew me off with a comment that he was probably just "hot".
So anyway I was off to the choir room to get him as soon as it was over because I knew he had had too much. Finally found him (that's another story) and we got his pictures that he had made (and was intensely proud of) and left. In the car he was bragging about the pictures he had made and the shirt he had made and at the same time apologizing for crying. I told him no big deal, I was proud of him for getting through it. At that point he matter of factly said, "I NEVER want to do that again". I said ok.
Here's where I have takes some flak. A couple of parents have insisted that he must go through this stuff, because isn't it cute and special and all of that. A couple of others said, he's tried it, he doesn't like it, don't make him do it unless he wants to. My vote's for the second camp of course.
No, I am not worried about missing out on these "special" moments. We have plenty of "special" moments of our own and our happy memories can be built around them. I know my son well enough to know what he enjoys and what he does not, and I am not going to force him into something he does not enjoy. To me, his ability to say to me that he does not want to do something and tell me why is way more important than actually doing it. Yes sometimes he had to learn that he has to do it whether he likes it or not, but a school musical is not one of those times.
On a side note, I remember back to when I was in elementary school this stuff was not mandatory or the teachers would hand pick the students based on their personalities to do different jobs. Back then, TB would probably have been signaled out to be the "prop man" or something . Back then, it was more about the child than about the program.
2 comments:
You're kidding, people actually said you should make him do that again?! Good grief. There is absolutely nothing special about standing on stage terrified nor in having to sit and watch it happen. You guys find your own special thing, there is nothing inherently special in school programs. Sheesh.
Maybe these things are the only types of memories some parents have with their children???
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