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Sunday, September 28, 2008

the Bribery of Public Officials...

alright, so maybe "public officials" is a little misleading---but officially, my kids had to speak in church today - part of the annual Primary Program - and it was... well, interesting!

My wonderful and brave 11 yr. old W had as one of his lines "He was taken and killed by wicked people"  He has rehearsed this over and over at home with a lot of good inflection and uumph...  but of course in church he doesn't dare give it the same feeling.  That may be a good thing, since many a rehearsal at home ended with the other kids giggling uncontrollably.

Po - because he is 9 and too cool for words - was given some lines that he decided were too long to memorize.  Somehow Mom did not agree, and he had to memorize them...  and yet (because the Primary leaders are smart and don't trust everyone to have their parts memorized) because the lines were there in front of them, he read them from the paper... forgetting that the word "live" makes more sense in the sentence if pronounced with a short I sound rather than a long one...

H - well, there are no complaints - she did well through both programs (that's right, we got the privilege of doing it TWICE!) even though she did have to have someone tie the bow on her dress 1/2 way through the second program...  and then again at the end... pesky bows.

M.... oh sweet M is always the exception to the rule isn't she?  Her part was short and sweet:  "We give hugs to our family" - that's it... she even wrote her own lines, she's so talented.  Well, practice after practice at church she refused to say the lines into the microphone until Saturday when I stood up for our final practice and walked her to the podium where she said her lines nice and loud.  All it takes is Mom helping - can do!  First performance today?  Stage Fright - Mom has to say the words.  Second performance today?  Well, we took the time beforehand to remind her that if she says her part from memory there's a prize in it for her...  (see, you knew we'd get around to bribery eventually)  It went off without a hitch - she left the stage smiling and even sat in her own seat...  for awhile before bugging Mom again.   Speaking of seats - M took the seating chart and proceeded to tell some kids that they were in the wrong spots DURING the program...  then she HAD to stay on my lap!

My favorite part of the annual program is always the fact that it's over...  then we get to start working on Christmas program... ugh, I'm not read to think about that yet!


Oh, and lest you think that T was left out of my narrative - at 13 he is too old now - but he gave great moral support as he dozed in the audience with Dad :)

6 comments:

Jen said...

I am with you, not ready to think about church Christmas program yet not at all but its coming.

Over from SITS, you saucy blog you.

Megz said...

I didn't bribe my kids to do well in the program today, I just rewarded them with a can of orange soda when they were done. It's all in how you phrase it!
What's up w/ a Christmas program? We only have to sing a song at the ward party usually. Thank heavens. I think I deserved a case of orange soda for putting up with prior-program grief from my oldest.

cold cocoa said...

Proud mother moments! Bribery works most of the time. You just never know what they're going to do, though. I am usually surprised that most kids get up there and don't totally freak out at the huge audience. I think it's good for 'em though!

Brooke said...

We missed our Primary Program this year and I was a little sad. Although we have no kids yet, it is always so fun to watch them! Nine o'clock is SO hard to make it to sometimes :)

Brooke said...

I am here from SITS just you are not wondering who the heck I am :)

Ronnica said...

The children at our church give a musical once a year, and I absolutely love it. I work closely with a lot of the kids and the families, and it is always interesting to see what they are like on the stage!