The Last of the Annual Holiday Programs for Me

The Christmas holiday is fast approaching, and I didn't escape the season without attending the annual elementary holiday program in Britton. The reason I mention it and mean to reflect on it now is that from this point on I will no longer be obligated to attend one, not in its entirety anyway. I may have to snap a photo for the newspaper at one next year, but I won't have to sit through the whole thing. I've reached a milestone. I've watched my youngest in her final elementary holiday music program.

Just as my son was the star of the Nutcracker production last year, my daughter had a part as an elf in this year's production of Elfis, a cute little play about an elf that resembles The King—and even sings like him, only an octave or so higher. 

My daughter made a cute, if not sassy, little elf. She's no stranger to the stage. She was the baby kangaroo in Seussical the Musical a few years back and drew on that experience to put a lot of emotion into her lines. It's true. I have it on video tape.

One nice thing about this year's performance—the last I'll have to be at ever if I didn't mention it before—is that it was surprisingly short. Not that I couldn't watch my kids on stage for hours, it's just that by evening time I'm spent. Add the hustle and bustle of prep for performance and you might as well just throw me under a table. 

Just as in years past, I staked my claim on a seat early so as to be up near the stage, and I sat for 45 minutes waiting for the production to begin and chatting with our local Bluebird expert Allen Bower, who happened to have a granddaughter performing. I braced myself for what might come. After all, there's bound to be some laughter. There always is at these things. There was a lot of laughter and then it was over. Everyone exited the gymnasium, collected kids and beelined for cars, and the halls were empty once again. This time, though, I couldn't say, "Well, there's always next year."