Slice of Life- The Annual Talent Show

On Tuesdays, Two Writing Teachers hosts the Slice of Life. Everyone is welcome to share writing and comment on others in this special community. 

  

The doctor's office called at 7:50 yesterday morning to cancel my 11am appointment. Not a big deal, except that it's a two-hour drive with traffic factored in. Given the ride home, as well, I had taken the day off. Faced with the dilemma of not going to school or going, I went. 

I hadn't paid any attention to the events of Monday-- I wasn't planning to be there!-- but when the halls were quiet and the classrooms were empty, I figured there must be an assembly. Which one? As I approached the gym, it dawned on me. The talent show. 

The annual talent show never fails to surprise me, and this year's was no exception. 

• One sixth-grader who is still non-verbal and bigger than all her teachers danced with paras and other students. Her mom was there to video, but had to wipe tears now and then. Until this year, B. tantrummed about coming to school, and her mother brought her and left her every day. 
• Two fifth-grade girls demonstrated and explained wrestling poses. While I couldn't make eye contact with other adults-- (the person next to me couldn't either but I saw her phone screen as she was reading someone else in the gym's text about the morning porn) I had to give them credit for the commitment to being on stage, the boundaries pushed to participate in wrestling, and the accuracy of explanations. All that being said, I don't think any of the first-graders left the show ready to try out the demonstrated pins. 
• A couple of girls acted out a comedy skit they'd written. The skit about a singing lesson was funny. We don't have any play-writing in our curriculum--- I'd love to teach that!-- and I'd love to see their script. I might work to track that down... 
• After many sub-par performances, a fairly quiet sixth-grader closed the show with her rendition of Defying Gravity.  Describing it to my family over dinner, they didn't believe me when I said that this kid nailed the last notes. Fortunately, the principal was only a text away, and she sent me the video. "She needs to keep singing," my daughter said. 

Maybe not all the kids who performed need to keep doing all that they're doing-- there were some duds-- but talent shows always impress me because of both the audience and the performers. Students in the audience are compliant and respectful; students on the stage are resilient, creative, and courageous. 

Today, I was grateful for the found day and the talent show. 

Slice of Life- Wishing Larkin a happy birthday!

  On Tuesdays, Two Writing Teachers hosts the Slice of Life. Everyone is welcome to share writing and comment on others in this special community. 

  

My father wore a pink coat twenty-nine years ago today. We didn't know we were having a girl, but we suspected it. And he must have suspected it, as well. Who knows? Maybe he knew since he had been friends with my doctor. He wore a pink coat. And it was twenty-nine years ago. 

I thought I'd resist the epidural, but I didn't last long. Garth had gone to get food when those contractions started, and I was pretty beside myself by the time he returned with his egg sandwich. It was much better to watch the contractions come and go on the monitor, betting that they would have hurt, and instead, watching the French Open. I was cheering for Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi on those almost-pink courts. 

We got to watch a lot of tennis that day since it took all day for Larkin to make her appearance. All of her grandparents were there to greet her. I could dig out those pictures, but it's fun to conjure up my dad in that pink blazer having finished his rounds and beaming with a swaddled newborn in his arms. 

Twenty-nine years ago in that pink blazer. 

Today, I think of my dad, and I celebrate my daughter. It's a strange juxtaposition of life celebrations. He left us ten years ago today on Larkin's 19th birthday. 

Today, I think of my dad, but I celebrate my daughter. The girl who made me a mom. Happy birthday to one of my favorite people on this planet.