A star is born

Last night was my children's school Christmas Nutcracker play. My oldest daughter had the lead, while my other 2 children had minor roles. One being a fairy, while the other was a mouse. Even though the 2 youngest had no lines, just actions to perform, they were all excited to be part of the play.

This play marked the first time that the school has done anything for Christmas in many years, and to my surprise, people came out in full force to see the presentation. So many people showed up that they had to pull out extra chairs for them to sit on. That is always a good thing.

The play started right on time, and everything went extremely well. Between each set, while they changed the background, various students sang Christmas songs. Overall, the play, and singing, lasted nearly 1 hour, making it an enjoyable evening for all.

My daughter, who had the most lines in the play, performed exceptionally well, with no mistakes. My other 2 were all smiles when their parts came up. The joy I felt seeing all of them on stage was wonderful, and my oldest daughter seemed to bask in the fact that she was the star of the show.

Maybe this is the beginning of a new path for her.

Sometimes Parents can give good advice

Last week, my oldest daughter came home talking about the Nutcracker play their school will be hosting before Christmas. She mentioned how she wanted to be in it, so we signed the approval form and off she went.

Upon arriving home after her first rehearsal, she said she wanted to try out for either the role of Clara or the Sugar Plum Fairy. Both roles are fairly important to the play, so I expected several students to try out. Keep in mind, this play is open to all the students from Grade 3 to Grade 8, with my daughter currently in Grade 4.

That evening after supper and homework, I mentioned to my oldest daughter that she should start practicing her lines, if she wanted to get the part. She thought it was a good idea and proceeded to read all her lines several times over. During this time, her younger siblings were watching some TV and she asked if she could also go watch. I said sure, but if she wanted the main role, she should practice more. After thinking about it for a few minutes, she returned to her bedroom and kept reading.

As the kids were settling for bed, I spoke to both my daughters at the same. I said to them that people who are really good at things, like singing, acting, skating, etc, try really hard at becoming really good at things. I told them that if they practiced hard enough they could become really good at something. They seem to understand what I was telling them, but with a 9 and 7 year old, you never know.

The next day, my oldest daughter had her audition and came home all excited as she was given the role of Clara (her 1st choice). She said that she was the only one who tried to memorize her lines out of the 5 girls that tried out. I think it really sunk in that because she worked at learning her lines, she got the part.

On a side note, I think my speed skating daughter is also getting the significance of trying hard to become better. Over the past few speed skating lessons, on the times that I had to stay a bit longer to either speak with someone, or sharpen our skates, my daughter has taken it upon herself to run up and down the stairs. She has seen the bigger kids do it, while she is on the ice, and has put the two together in hopes that it will help her out.