Have a paparazzi Christmas

My kids both had a Christmas Concert at their elementary school last week. It wasn’t called a Christmas Concert, it was called  Winter Concert, but it’s not like they busted out the Kwanza Rap or a grade school version of the Hanukkah Song.

Each class sung some cute song about Christmas, but not any actual Christmas Carols, the kind reminiscent of God or baby Jesus. But it’s public school, so that’s okay.

Due to the capacity of the school gym, they had to split the concert into two separate performances. The school tried to minimize the number of families that would have kids in two separate performances, but we lost that luck of the draw. So just like the previous year we ended up having to see it twice. It wasn’t two separate and different performances, it was the exact same show, all the same songs, but sung by different classes.

I admit that unless one of my kids is performing, or one of their very close friends, that my interest won’t be captivated… So my mind wandered and I started to look around me. The school did a fantastic job of decorating the gym with art made by the kids. I really liked the variety in the art from the various ages and it was really endearing to see their development. Mostly, kids of the same grade had their art put up next to one another. But my eye is always drawn to inconsistency in pattern, so a few items really entertained me.

Like this row of candy canes all lined up in a row. Oh wait.

Or this Santa made by a kid who just needed another 5 minutes. Was 5 more minutes really too much to ask?

And these festive reindeer with ornaments hanging off their antlers. Only they look like moose. And Salvador Dali was the guest art teacher that day. Hubs and I are biologists, why wouldn’t they consult one of us before propagating more ungulate confusion?

Santa once rejected Rudolph for his red nose, until he needed a beacon in the storm. Which makes him a user. But now he’s so supportive that he’s even letting Rudolph lead the sleigh on a drug trip.

There were no menorahs or dreidels decorating the gym so I’m just going to keep calling this a Christmas Concert. I’m not offended or anything, I’m just suggesting they call it what it really is.

When I was in elementary school there were only one or two parents that took photos, and no one video taped our Christmas Concerts. It was in the day of actual film, which was expensive, so you took only one photo or two. In contrast, my kids will grow up hounded by the paparazzi parents. They will have some devices pointed at them in every performance they ever do; piano, dancing, gymnastics, school shows… I took photos of the art work, above, before the concert started, and I took 2 photos of each of my girls while they were performing. But the rest of the time my phone was put away. In stark contrast, there were parents who stood up and blocked everyone behind them to take dozens of photos and to video their kids’ entire performance.

Is this really the new norm?