Xavier's First Christmas Play
Greetings to everyone.
Today was another rite of passage for both Xavier and his parents: his first Christmas play.
The older children (kindergarteners) entered the sanctuary from the back while waving tinsel. Teachers helped herd them and keep them moving forward, while giving cues to keep waving their tinsel. Many stopped and said "hi" to parents as the proceeded down the aisle.
They quickly lined up on the platform, then performed a few songs about the Christmas Story. It was fun watching so many try to do as they had practiced, but each one remembering what to do differently than the one next to them, and different from the teacher pantomiming their cues.
The pre-K children processed down the aisle near the middle of the program. Many more teachers and teacher's aides were spread throughout this crowd. Keeping three and under kids moving forward was definitely hard work for these vigilant (and well-practiced) people.
Xavier was in the middle of this crowd carrying a bell on a post. He passed by Rebecca and me but did not see us (he was on the wrong side of the teacher to see us). You could tell he was caught up by all the visual stimuli in the auditorium.
When his teacher positioned him, Rebecca and I thought we would not be able to see him. He was too short even on the stair; the platform hid him. Apparently, he had sat down. His teacher got him to stand up, and we could see his head and shoulders from where we sat.
Taking cues from one of the helpers standing in front of his little group, Xavier shook or waved his post with a bell on it during the next set of songs. After a while, Xavier grew a little bored. Looking around, he saw his music teacher directing the singing of the older children on center stage.
He put down his bell and started conducting the conductor. In my taking of pictures, I did not realize what he was doing. When I looked over the pictures, I saw what he was doing and laughed.
After the play ended, we picked Xavier up in his classroom. Signing him out, we headed over to the gym to enjoy cookies and a specialized rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas performed by the teachers.
Xavier's teachers were dressed as turtles (his class animal) and had green boas down their arms and white dove wings on their hands. They were the two Turtle Doves of the song.