Glitz and Glam
Our oldest son, Ben who has quickly become everything that is “teenager” is taking advantage of his eighth-grade year to try out all of the things. This is encouraged by the school and community prior to entering high school. We think it’s a pretty good idea as well. In practice, however, it is pretty hectic AND we still feel like we are missing some things. Ugh, Mock Trial already happened? Ok, I can do Knowledge Bowl, but I have to miss most of the practices because they are scheduled at the same time I’m already double booked for Basketball and Honor Choir. I can’t be on a different team in Basketball because I have Strength and Conditioning and Show Choir in the mornings so I can only go to half the practices. I have to miss Board Game Club and GSA for the next two months for my other activities. I can only attend doctor’s appointments during school hours. I have Show Choir Friday and Honor Band all next Saturday. I can’t go out for Jazz Band because I ran out of time in a day. What time of year does speech contest happen again? Did we miss that? It also means “where are we supposed to be right now? – someone check the calendar!”
Our schedules on the other hand mean all hands on deck. Sam is in baseball in some form year-round now and has an additional activity each season. Right now, we are in basketball and baseball season. I am in the midst of a flurry of creative deadlines. Jeff is in legislative season, which means longer hours at work trying to push bills through on top of his regular duties and the requirements of an election year. This means extra face time with the legislature, judiciary, and governor.
This all leads us to a mid-January Friday night. Ben has been practicing Show Choir two mornings a week and several weekends for most of the school year. He has really fallen in with this group of kids and enjoys singing and dancing. We found out from his choir instructors he is a leader in the group and doing very well at it. We were anxiously looking forward to his first competition. Show Choir in our town is a big deal. The high school kids often do very well, ranking high in the state. Plus it’s just really nice to see your kid do something totally new and shine in his own work and the enjoyment of it. I love watching this type of thing and was in Show Choir in high school, but it was nothing like this. Getting to see my kid do this is pretty thrilling for me.
The grandparents were all excited to get to watch as well. My parents were going to get to stream the show from Arizona. Jeff’s parents were going to come down for the weekend to see Ben perform and see Sam play basketball.
Schedules began to come together as we got closer to the date and it became apparent that the Governor’s Inaugural Ball was going to fall on the same evening as Ben’s first Show Choir performance. I understand that the ball is an honor. I do enjoy getting dressed up, eating a lovely meal, and dancing. This year, though, I was feeling less excited about it.
Four years ago when we were invited for the first time, Jeff was fairly new to state government and we were so optimistic about so many things. A lot has changed since then. Not to say we aren’t optimistic about the hard work we can do. It’s just the political climate has become so volatile since then. The uphill climb has become steeper instead of ever leveling out. My own political leanings identify further and further from those who were throwing this shindig. And I didn’t want to miss my kid’s very first Show Choir competition.
I ordered my dress. Jeff got fitted for his tux. We got everything in order for the boys for the Show Choir competition. Thanks to Jeff’s parents and a little help from the neighbors, things were taken care of. Then Jeff threw out a suggestion. “What if we just wear our formal clothes to the competition and head straight to the ball from there?” I thought about it for a moment. “That might actually work.” With the timing we had, we could get from one place to the next if we hurried.
So, we did. We parked in a school parking lot 35 minutes from our town and speed walked in a gown and tux into a high school full of people. We just so happened to be checking our tickets in when our school’s Show Choir walked past and we were able to surprise Ben by showing up just before he went on. He had been voicing his understanding yet disappointment of our absence at his first performance. He seemed pretty happy to see us. I was glad we could be there and he could know we were cheering him on.
The kids did an amazing job. They sang and danced their excited hearts out. The crowd roared. I nervous-sweated and cried a little. Their hard work showed.
We left immediately following the performance – not without quite a few questioning looks, and comments from friends – we just let them know we were free to be alternates should anyone need it. All dressed up in our sparkles, glitz and glamour – ready to go.
We both felt more settled by the time we arrived at the ball. We discussed on the way how we could enjoy this night for what it was. We were getting to do all of it. We got to see Ben perform. Now we could relax, have a good time, eat, dance, and talk to the people we take pleasure in speaking with. And we did just that, with an amusing story to share about our night.
