Ok. So here it is… Several of you knew about this and have been nagging me to post. It took me this long because a) we’ve been so busy, and b) I want to be sure to cover the whole story.
Two weeks ago we got a notice in William’s backpack inviting us to a sneak preview of “The Three Piggy Opera” presented by The Kindergarteners the following Thursday at noon. Three days later, as Chris was walking William home from school, William goes on & on about this play.
I question him about it at dinner. Asked if he had a part in this play. He said yes… he was a wolf. As any adult knows, there is only one wolf in this story. But as a parent of a young child in school I am aware of the fact they try to make everything fair… even overly “fair” sometimes at the expense of our children not learning some of the ever-present life disappointments & how to deal with them. When I ask how many wolves there are in this play, our son’s priceless response was “one”… with the clear understanding it was meant to be followed by “duh mom.” He matter-of-factly says, “I got the part because I know the whole story already.”
At this point my mind is flooded with thoughts. I had no idea they actually take theatre class in elementary school, let alone Kindergarten. If he’s been attending this, why is this the first we’ve heard of it? My son, the one who is shy around even people he knows, has a part in the play??? Hind sight tells me this may be why he got the part, but still. I’m proud.
“WILLIAM… THIS IS THE LEAD ROLE!” Hind sight also tells me I shouldn’t have told him that or shown so much excitement at what he had accomplished. The next week as he was watching people audition on American Idol with me… it sets in. He has stage fright. He begins bawling because, as he puts it, “it’s just getting closer and closer.” He also explains to me his displeasure in having to play a character that has a mean face. (I can hear the female reader “awwwws” at this point.)
I was searching and searching for something to say to calm him down and put his mind at ease. I told him that when I was a little girl and my Kindergarten (ok, it wasn’t Kindergarten but the details escape me)… I didn’t get the role I wanted in a play. This is where he starts to interrogate me. “What play?” “Who got the part?” “Why didn’t you get it?” I apparently answered these questions to his liking and he calmed down.
Chris showed up that day with the video camera. Grandma and I sat watching proudly. The play went off… with a few hitches… When the first house was blown down (it’s a tri-fold thing) William’s finger got caught in it. He cried and the teacher had to stop the play and comfort him for a little bit. That and a few boys getting time-out during the play made it memorable. The funny thing is that although the kids were “dressed” in their appropriate costumes… they really all sang all of the parts. William, as the wolf, looked funny making movements and singing “not by the hair of my chinny chin chin.” But his “solo” part that everyone joined in on has been stuck in my head for over a week. I wish I could put the video on here, but we cannot blog other people’s children. So you’ll have to settle for the lyrics and a photo of the proud wolf.
I want a big, fat pig to eat.
I want a big, fat pig to eat.
I want a big, fat pig to eat.
Yummy, yummy, yummy, yummy
…mmmmm mmmmm mmmm mmmmm.
His other line was, of course, “then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down.”
