No Standing Ovations Were Necessary, As We Were All Standing Up to Videotape the Thing in the First Place

Yesterday Jeffrey’s kindergarten class held its end-of-the-year singing concert.  It had a “holidays and birthdays” theme, with little ditties for every month of the year.  My mom, dad, sister, niece, mother-in-law, and grandmother-in-law were all able to come with me, one of the perks of living close to extended family.

Jeffrey got to wear a woefully outdated paper “Indian hat” for the Thanksgiving song — which, strangely, was a jazzy blues number.

For February, they sang a song about George Washington and projected a slide show with individual portraits of all the kids dressed as the man himself.  There are nearly one hundred kindergarteners.  The song had only one verse, so they just kept singing it over and over — about fifty or sixty times.  It was all I could do to refrain from laughing my head off around repeat number 38.

By the halfway point of the concert, Jeffrey grew sleepy — it was the end of the school day, and he had been up late the night before for a family party in honor of my sister’s college graduation — so he kinda stopped singing.  And can you blame him?  The song for Father’s Day was “Wind Beneath My Wings.”  Who teaches a class of kindergarteners “Wind Beneath My Wings”?!?

Towards the end of the concert, Jeffrey simply stood up and began blinking dazedly at the audience.  It was as if he had grown too tired to remain seated.  For July, they sang a peppy pop tune called “America Rocks!”  The kids pumped their fists in the air during the chorus, but Jeff just kinda let his hand flop around. 

He perked up when the concert was finished, though, especially after hearing that punch and cookies were available afterwards in his classroom.  The room was so crowded that Jeffrey was the only one who made it inside, but he got his cookie, digumit!