Grandma Update: Clap, Eleanor!

 

Whenever I watched preschoolers perform, my praise went to the whipper snapper little kids who sung ever note. The children who knew all the words. Those kids who kept the program afloat by doing everything they learned in rehearsal. They were obviously the smartest. The leaders of tomorrow. The clever ones.

My grandson Mazen, despite many rehearsals, did not sing ONE single note in his preschool holiday program. Not one word. I know because I watched the video three times.

Instead, Maze waved to the audience and beamed broadly during each round of applause. You can hear him shout, “Clap, Eleanor!” to his friend. Maze loved being on stage.

So of course, loyal grandma that I am, I have changed my tune about little kids who don’t sing a note. Those kids are clever, too. They’re making the program into their own moment. They’re defining just how they want the show to go for them.

And perhaps there’s a larger lesson for me and you. It’s okay not to do exactly as you are told. Great joy comes from relishing an event in your own way, right Maze?

(I must add that Maze did a fine job pulling Santa’s paper box sleigh and adding a flannel board piece to the nativity story.)