Milestones

Josh had his very first, up on the stage, school Christmas program on Tuesday night. We practiced the songs a few times in the car that day and I was so amazed at how well he knew them and the hand motions that went with them. He was teaching the songs and the motions to Hannah and I. Sometimes I under estimate how easily a kid of his age can be taught.

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He kept telling me all day long that he wasn't going to sing, the little turkey. I tried to just say "OK" and not make a big deal about it because I know my boy well and if I did make a big deal and tell him he needed to sing, he would definitely not do it. So I thought the chances were better for him to sing if I just let it go. Well the odds were stacked against me. He didn't sing. He was the only one. But it was OK because it was just a bunch of 4 year old preschoolers and they were really performing for the cuteness and not for their singing abilities. And cute it was!

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Josh did do the hand motions, though. He carefully kept his hands down by his side but he did the motions. He had the most embarrassed look on his face and kept looking at me. And like a good mom I just waved so he knew I was there and proud!

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While we were waiting for the show to start (my mom went with me), I was reading the program. On the back in the itty bitty fine print they asked that we would refrain from flash photos and stay out of the aisles for the safety of the kids. I don't know about you but I think there are times where the safety of my kids has to be set aside to make for a great photo of a big life event and this was one of those times. So while I did stay in my seat like a good mom, I did not refrain from using my flash. Am I sorry for that? No, not so much. And I am sure that the other 90 parents that used their flashes and moved out to the aisle to get a good shot aren't sorry either. Unfortunately, all the pictures I took have the other kids in them. I am not sure how the other parents feel about their kids being on the Internet, so I am not going to post them on this blog. Unless...I get a really cool Photoshop program for Christmas (hint, hint Shad!) then I will figure out how to edit them to protect the privacy of the other kids. Or I guess I could just send around a release form to the other parents in the class. Um, no, I think I will just hold off until after Christmas.

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It can be so hard to watch my kids grow up and this was one of those milestones that was hard for me to see. I am not ready for him to be so grown up, like an official school kid. He shows me everyday new things that he has learned in school and I am blown away a lot of the time by it. I just now realized why I have been in a pretty mopey, fowl mood. (I mean beside the fact that we are STILL needing to do the eye drop for the stye in Josh's eye. Well, up until last night when I wrestled that boy for the last time! After yelling at him and throwing a hissy fit, I have decided to stop the drops, do warm compresses 3 times a day and if the d@#* stye is not gone by next week I am heading back to the doctor and asking him to put the kid to sleep and just pop the, um, stinkin' thing. For the sanity of all of us! Or just me. Whatever...) It is just not easy to see my boy grow up. But as we all know, they do whether we like it or not.

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By the way, when we were leaving Hannah said, "Mom I'm mad at you." "Why?" I asked. "Because you didn't let me go up on the stage and sing with Joshy." It'll be interesting to see how she does next year. But do I really have to let her be old enough to be in preschool?