Since our school goes from age 4 to 18, they divide these type of things up by Lower school (up to about age 10/11) and Middle and High school (12+). That way the big kids, if they are doing skits, can add some slightly risqué dialog. (Although there was a very stern memo went out to them because apparently last year's senior skits were way, way too blue.)
The big kids' show was basically the Seniors (Upper 6th, leavers) doing the Twelve Days of Christmas. There's not a lot you can do with lyrics that don't change, although with the onset of technology, and a shiny new auditorium, there were a lot more videos this year. Otherwise, it was the usual in-jokes that had the kids falling about laughing and the parents all looking at each other with "I don't know" all over their faces.
The little kids's show however, seems to get more delicious the older your kids get. Teeny four year olds yelling "Ode to Joy" with the inevitable diva slap bang in the middle shaking her little booty and generally mugging for the entire audience. Or the hilarious 7 years olds who were singing a Mexican song which required much circling of arms. I can't tell you how many of them were smacked on the head by the kid to their right. At one point the teacher had to gently move one boy who had taken to elbowing his neighbor in quiet retaliation.
This concert was our last ever Lower School concert. My "little guy" is now ten and will be in middle school next year. (Vespers - a whole nuther story.) A few of his friends' parents were also graduating out of Lower school and I detected a moist eye or two as we shuffled out at the end. Me? Not so much. While I can recite more sweet, funny details for you, I must also remind you that, due to the rather late age gap between the kids (10 and 7 years), that was my SEVENTEENTH consecutive Lower School concert. I know.
It's not that I found it boring, tiresome or anything curmudgeonly, it's just that I need to move on. Seventeen years doing the same things (eg. also the Halloween Parade) makes you feel like a hamster on a wheel sometimes. So while I loved the concert, and was proud of LG's glockenspiel playing, egads……
Does that make me a bad person?
