Assembly

Jill had an assembly at her school today. Every time there's an assembly I get anxious and a little annoyed that my afternoon will be spent trying to contain Peter for 45 minutes while the kids sing. Then the head of the school piles on the pressure by saying, "The children have worked very hard to prepare, so if your little ones are having trouble being quiet, please take them downstairs." If everyone with an out of control toddler on her lap left in shame, there'd be nobody left for the children to sing to!

That sets the stage. In walks my Jill in line with her class. She stops on the way in to beam at me and give Peter a little squeeze. Already I am grinning ear to ear and bursting with pride. Jill's class sang "We are the World." She belted out the beginning of the song, swayed and shimmied her shoulders as she sang, spaced out for a little while, blew me a couple of kisses, freaked out over a bug flying around the room, and then pulled it together to loudly sing the last few choruses. She was adorable.

Peter ate crackers in my lap during "We are the World." When the crackers were gone, we were predictably banished and missed the last 42 minutes of the assembly. It was well worth the effort to get there, though. I hope I'll always remember how Jill sang today.