Last night I watched KC in his Christmas Performance. TJ actually sat enthralled all the way through and his only comments were positive ones. As many of you will remember from KC's summer performance TJ took great delight in critiquing each performance as it happened - much to the 'delight' of the parents around us. He was a pretty harsh critic that time. But I think after his own performance he now knows how much work the children put into their little show. KC was the Ginger Elf - who was a naughty elf and hid in Santa's sleigh (I was paying attention) - then he fell out of the sleigh into a child's home and had to be rescued by the Christmas Fairy. It may not have been Merchant Ivory but TJ loved it. He also loved that KC's elf hat had 'Kiss Me' written on it. KC's other 'skit' was a retelling of the Willy Wonka story - but with only four children. She was Mike Teevee - again typecasting! That 'skit' wasnt as successful as some of the children forgot their lines - luckily KC remembered them all and even said lines that weren't his - I am sure the other kids were grateful! One of the other performers thanked KC for the intervention. The child playing Augustus Gloop left a Pinter pause long enough to drive a bus through and KC simply said his line for him. 'I know what my line is,' the boy said , 'I was just acting.' This caused a ripple of amusement from the audience. TJ looked on approvingly, 'KC knows everything,' he whispered in my ear.
After the performance the impossibly cheerful drama teacher held a raffle - that cost me a fiver and we didn't win anything! Then she laid on a huge spread of cakes, sweets, chocolate and squash for the kids. Needless to say by the time I prised TJ away from the cake stand - still clutching a piece of swiss roll - both boys were fully loaded with enough sugar to keep them buzzing the entire night. They were fighting in the back of the car when suddenly they stopped. KC said 'Daddy, why are you being so quiet?' I looked in the mirror, 'Because I dont have the energy to shout at you both.' I replied. 'Oh,' said KC, 'Should I be setting a better example for TJ?' 'That would be nice,' I said - now realising that my parenting skills were second to none. So KC sat quietly for at least two minutes - then TJ kicked him in the shin and all hell broke loose again. But it was nice while it lasted. I did what all parents do in this situation. I turned the radio up and drove home as quickly as I could before sending them to bed!
I sat down and watched the TV with my pizza and a glass of red wine. Waiting for Papa... He finally rolled in at around 2am. It must have been a good night. He had to take a female colleague home. That can't have been easy as apparently when they got to the address she gave the taxi driver she woke up, looked around and said, 'I don't live here,' and then slipped back into a drunken slumber leaving Papa to work out where she actually did live. Luckily, he was in just as bad a state so he didnt care about it and found the whole thing hilariously funny... I'm afraid I may not have been the most appreciative of audiences as he woke me up in order to share his experience at 2am!
I did enjoy watching him crash around the bedroom at 6am though trying to get ready for work... I offered to turn the lights on for him, but apparently he is used to getting dressed in the dark and didn't want any lights - just a glass of water!
After the performance the impossibly cheerful drama teacher held a raffle - that cost me a fiver and we didn't win anything! Then she laid on a huge spread of cakes, sweets, chocolate and squash for the kids. Needless to say by the time I prised TJ away from the cake stand - still clutching a piece of swiss roll - both boys were fully loaded with enough sugar to keep them buzzing the entire night. They were fighting in the back of the car when suddenly they stopped. KC said 'Daddy, why are you being so quiet?' I looked in the mirror, 'Because I dont have the energy to shout at you both.' I replied. 'Oh,' said KC, 'Should I be setting a better example for TJ?' 'That would be nice,' I said - now realising that my parenting skills were second to none. So KC sat quietly for at least two minutes - then TJ kicked him in the shin and all hell broke loose again. But it was nice while it lasted. I did what all parents do in this situation. I turned the radio up and drove home as quickly as I could before sending them to bed!
I sat down and watched the TV with my pizza and a glass of red wine. Waiting for Papa... He finally rolled in at around 2am. It must have been a good night. He had to take a female colleague home. That can't have been easy as apparently when they got to the address she gave the taxi driver she woke up, looked around and said, 'I don't live here,' and then slipped back into a drunken slumber leaving Papa to work out where she actually did live. Luckily, he was in just as bad a state so he didnt care about it and found the whole thing hilariously funny... I'm afraid I may not have been the most appreciative of audiences as he woke me up in order to share his experience at 2am!
I did enjoy watching him crash around the bedroom at 6am though trying to get ready for work... I offered to turn the lights on for him, but apparently he is used to getting dressed in the dark and didn't want any lights - just a glass of water!
