Little m Long a

There are many who prepare for December all year long, starting December 26th of the previous year with the after Christmas and return sales, picking up odds and ends on weekends throughout the year, diligently socking away an extra ten or twenty here and there for the Christmas fund.  For these careful planners, come December it’s all over save the wrapping.  I hate these people!  The litany of items on my list of things to get done before Christmas for some odd reason does not seem to be growing appreciably smaller.  Oh, I’ve been able to cross off a few items: we put up the tree, the Christmas cards are sent, I got the lights up on the house.  (OK so they were still up there from last year but I had to replace a strand and…and…well, that’s it.)  Oooh. Today I bought wrapping paper and some ribbon.  No.  I haven’t bought any presents yet but when I do, I’ve got the paper.  Of course, I forgot to get tape.  I’m not making any headway.

However, and any of you with children can surely attest to this, one of the sure fire kick starts to the Christmas season is your child’s school Christmas Gala.  The Christmas Pageant.  The Christmas Concert.  The Christmas Play.  Whatever label you happen to attach to the event you can rest assured you’re going to be subjected to some of the most cliché Christmas carols sung by your most precious and their classmates the majority of whom are incapable of standing still for the two minute duration of BOTH verses of We Wish You A Merry Christmas and it’s even less likely that the key they choose to belt out said carol will resemble any musical arrangement of notes or chords ever conceived.  “You mean to tell me I put on a tie for THIS!?”  I’ve been there.  I feel your pain.  I vividly recall our first parent-teacher conference with Zoë’s pre-kindergarten teacher.  She mentioned that Zoë was not participating in music class and had many times asked to remain in the classroom and help out while the other kids left for their music lessons.  In one of the most tactful statements I have ever heard from a teacher regarding a co-worker Zoe’s teacher said, “I suppose I can understand how Zoë feels. She (the music teacher) has a voice that is perfectly suited………….to not teaching music.”

Never the less for two years we sat through the Christmas Concerts, smiles painted on and my tie like a noose choking out what life the horrible singing might have left in me.  We changed schools this year.  No, not because of the singing!  There were other things and stuff we considered.  But, I was prepared for another less than stellar Christmas Performance.  Prepared?  Hell, I had been training for the past two years.  I suppose one of the things I have learned as a cynic is that if you set your bar of expectation really low…..A) it’s hard to be disappointed and 2) should something great happen you have set yourself up to be totally blown away.  I can honestly say that this year’s Christmas Gala a) did not disappoint and 2) totally blew me away.  These kids did a fantastic job.  They were well rehearsed, well behaved, they sang together and in tune.  To boot, the selections were not the cliché Rudolph and Away in a Manger.  OK, so they did sing Silent Night.  Check that.  They sang Stille Nacht.  That’s right.  They sang it in German.  One hundred voices of first and second graders accompanied by their music teacher playing his guitar singing Silent Night in German.  Beautiful.  Absolutely beautiful.  And if that won’t get you in the Christmas Spirit then….then….your soul is an appalling dump heap overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable.

Oh, and the other thing that made this Christmas Gala so fantastic, Zoë’s solo.  That’s right.  Her very first solo.

I’m not sure if a person can die from being proud of his daughter but, I gotta tell you.  If you can….this ain’t such a bad way to go.