Me and my drum :)

*sorry, guys - this was still in my draft folder! YIKES!*

Aaaaaahhhhh....what a wonderful program it was. We are truly blessed to have Mrs. A with NBear this year, and it was very obvious tonight that every parent (who has a child in her class) felt the same. I really don't think she realizes how much light she's put into all of our lives.

The evening started out with Mrs. D, the school principal, making her usual welcoming remarks. She was nice enough to do a special shout-out (aka preview) to my NBear's class, and how they were "such a wonderful SDC group". She also mentioned that most of the children in the class were diagnosed with autism. I had mixed feelings about her mentioning that although they may not sound the same as other children, or may act a bit differently, we must all realize that they are all children with feelings too. She also added that earlier, for one of their rehearsals, some other kids were laughing at them and one of NBear's classmates thought he was the reason for the laugh. (That's actually when she mentioned the "feelings" part) So - she continued - I know you'll all be on your best behavior and will cheer for them when they perform!

They were the third performance, and when they emerged on stage, my heart swelled with pride:) My NBear was immediately handed a mic - OH! By the way, as an important side, I must add that one of the wonderful parents in her class volunteered to provide their costumes for them. They were hand-sewn! - which she held on to, like it was second nature. There was something that made me a tad bit anxious, though...it was when she first looked out into the audience and pretty much had an "oh-my-goodness-why-are-there-so-many-people-staring-at-us?" look. I was afraid the stage fright monster had finally bitten!

When I caught her attention, though (NBear! Honey, you need to push your hair out of the way, sweetie!) she smiled a huge smile and said "Mommy!!!" Of course, I chose to ignore the fact that she had taken her hair down, which I had so carefully and lovingly tied up so it wouldn't fall in huge chunks on her face while her hat was on....*groan*

All was well in the universe after that. :)

All, that is, EXCEPT for the moments MBear would try to escape and join the singing (and drumming) sensations ON the stage! I thought it incredibly cute that she was singing along with them, anyway.

pics to follow!