December 18, 2009 was a date to remember. It was our daughter’s first school presentation! A few weeks before, Bea’s teacher called for a meeting. They discussed that there will be a gift giving celebration. It’s an event where parents are asked to give gifts (anything from clothes, toys or food) and the teachers will be inviting less-fortunate children and our children will be the ones to give the collected gifts to the unfortunate kids. Hubby and I decided to give away spongebob toothbrushes and towelettes, plus tooth paste. I know, I know, we got a little carried away. It was a bit expensive, but we thought the kids would truly love this… a treat for most of them since I knew most of them don’t even a simple toothbrush, let alone a cutie one. Hehehe. Besides, I was sure the other parents will have the usual noodles and canned goods covered.
Apparently it was an annual activity of the school and they have it near Christmas time, and as part of the celebration, the kids will be preparing a presentation, per level. The nursery class where Bea belonged was tasked to dance. They even had red and green pompoms as props. Being the eager first-time stage parents that we were, we stayed up late into the night cutting up red and green strips of plastic that we fashioned into pompoms. (I couldn’t find ready made ones with the correct color). Their dance was supposed to be a medley of the LSS-inducing and National Christmas Party 09 Anthem “Nobody” by the wonder girls and some Christmas carols. As expected, no intricate dance steps for the 3-4 year olds. Just the usual “Nobody” dance move (clapping and pointing) and a lot of waving of hands and jumping around…moves that the little girl has memorized and perfected.
When the day of the celebration was nearing, I asked permission from my superior that on that day I will take a leave. I told her the real reason of my request, thankfully she was very understanding about it and allowed me.
On the day of celebration, I woke up really late! Hahaha! Then I went to Goldilock’s Concepcion to purchase their little multi-colored puto… but they were all out (to my dismay!) so I opted for 3 packs of macaroons instead. I also passed by mercury drug store to purchase some cough medicine for the little one… then as a last stop, I dropped by the local grocery store and bought two boxes of juice for that afternoon’s potluck.
The service “bus” arrived early, and I was not yet ready, so I let Bea and her nanny go ahead of me while I just walked all the way there. When I arrived, the little one was already waiting for me… feeling jealous of the other kids who had mommies doting over them. When she saw me, she was all smiles!
After a few moments, the program started. We were all surprised when the nursery class was the first one called. We expected them to be the last performers. Anyway, the other kids went on up the stage… our nanny brought Bea to the stage… but once there, she jumped off and came running to me! Oh no! I tried to coax/bribe/force/scare her into going back… to no avail… as a compromise, she agreed to stand by the sidelines and watched her classmates perform. I could see in her eyes that she is envious and that she wanted to perform, but she just wouldn’t budge! After the whole presentation, I hugged her and told her I was still proud of her, then I asked her why she refused to perform. “hiya ako” ( I was shy) was her simple reply. Hay.
A few days later, I told an officemate about Bea’s non-performance and she said her daughter went through the same thing with her daughter until they were told by the teachers that in the future, the kids should be turned over to the teachers and away from the parents moments before the presentation. This will give the kids enough time to get psyched up with the idea of performing because they are with their classmates already. No chance to feel cold feet or stage fright. Apparently parents cause this more often than not. Go figure. We will definitely try this tactic next time. =)
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