A few days ago, my last born was getting ready for his first preschool Christmas recital. We practiced for weeks, singing Go Tell It On A Mountain and Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Star at least 5 times a day. There was a poem too, and each day at pick-up I would jokingly ask his preschool teacher if she was ready for the big performance. I mean, twenty 3-three-year-olds singing 2 songs… and a poem?
To my surprise though, my son knew most of the poem by heart and was enthusiastic about the songs. He especially loved Go Tell It On A Mountain, to which he would yell and really get into the telling part! He started to talk about “his mountain” and what it looked like up there. Eventually the mountain become a parenting metaphor for the stage and, in my attempt to prepare him for the experience, he became more comfortable with the thought of performing in front of a hundred or so parents.
For those that know Sebastian, you might understand that surviving his first school recital is no easy task. He’s quite the active boy, and this would be his first time on stage and in front of a big crowd. I had no idea how he would react and, being a self-identified, over-protective parent, I wanted to be sure my child remained safe no matter how he responded to the pressure.
A Holiday Night of Firsts
He was all smiles as I dropped him off in his classroom. Abuela was there too, so he felt extra special to perform for her. He was wearing his first 4-piece suit and loved the attention he got from all the moms. But as I was about to walk out, a hysterical, sobbing preschooler was walking in and my heart sank. Sebastian held me a little tighter and asked me to stay. I reminded him to stand tall on his mountain and of all the practice we had done – he was going to be great! I also asked him to look for me in the crowd, because I would be waving like crazy and be the proudest mama in the audience.
He smiled at the thought of his silly mama waving and slowly let go of my hand. I walked out, quickly, doing my best to hold back the tears. I had to let him go; my baby had to get ready to climb his mountain all by himself.
And he did! Our little boy was AWESOME!
With focus I’m not used to seeing, he walked right up to his spot and stood still while the rest of his class got into position. When it was time to sing, he sung with all his heart and even danced to the beat a bit. It helped that he was next to his best friend – whose family we were sitting next to – so both boys saw us in the crowd immediately. Sebastian’s face was full of joy and I finally exhaled a bit, realizing that he was having a good time and not at all stressed by the experience.
I still worried about the exit part (and his teacher did tell me that he freaked out when the performance was over, but wasn’t allowed to run to me), though he continued to follow directions and remained safe in his teacher’s supervision. Despite all the singing and cuteness, I can’t tell you how proud THAT made me – that he showed resilience and made good choices during a stressful (to a 3-year-old’s perspective) situation.
Building a Meaningful Family Legacy
This holiday night of firsts was one I’ll cherish for a long time. It meant so much to me that my mom was there too, smiling from the crowd and pouring love into her grandson on his special day.
Gifts are great, but creating meaningful experiences that help solidify your child’s identity are the kind of presents that never stop giving.
Here are a few tips on making the holidays meaningful:
- Get creative with gift-giving! Consider giving your children gifts that encourage family time, such as board games, craft and jewelry-making supplies and tickets to local plays or museum exhibits.
- If you kids are old enough, volunteer as a family. You’ll all get to spend time together and help others in your community. That’s awesome!
- Take time to build new family traditions and cherish those “first” moments! Spend less time worrying about the perfect gifts and more time with family to make holiday memories more meaningful.
Holiday nights like this – my son’s very first Christmas recital – are the moments I want my kids to remember of the season. They might not know it yet, but being the mom waving from afar, jumping hurdles with them and celebrating their victories is the absolute best gift I can give my children. And luckily for them, it’s the best gift I’ve ever given myself.
