We attended my daughter’s school day function last weekend. We have been preparing for it for the last one month, she has been practicing for the last 2 months and the teachers were busy planning and organizing for the last 3 months. Now that you got an idea about the enormity of the situation, you can also guess the possible troubles that all of us face.
When we admitted her in school, there was no standard disclaimer that the fees paid includes or does not include so-and-so also. I am sure most of us keep sending amounts every month either for a new book in library under the child’s name, field trip, material for activity class, additional books, donation to some charity institution, etc. Include dress for dance on cultural day, raffle tickets (??), entry fees to that list.
The teachers have the maximum trouble. They need to prepare the kindergarten kids for the function. Making them stand in a straight line for 5 minutes is difficult enough. Imagine trying to make them dance to your tunes and in step. Highly impossible, I say. Even at the end of it all, kids tend to do what they please when they are on stage, including running down the stage when they see their parents in audience, fighting over each other during the show, crying or simply staring at their feet. And then there is the work of designing costumes for all of them and preparing props to be used. The teachers definitely have the hardest job.
The kids go through some trouble themselves. Dance is highly taxing for them mostly because it is forced on them. They definitely don’t enjoy anything that is forced. There are endless practice sessions and hours of waiting in itchy costumes before they go onto stage. There are a few with stage fright and dread looking at the audience. All this is a definite depart from their daily routine which makes them cranky.
Parents just need to ensure that the child attends all practice sessions and buy all the accessories as specified. They need to keep checking their bank balances and make sure that their monthly household budget has a column for ‘additional school remittances’.
For well-known schools, the function won’t be just ‘dance-and-go’. There will be a carnival or some other competitions to create enough buzz to ensure that their school gets mentioned in the next edition of newspapers.
But in spite of all this, I am sure that you will find that all these troubles are worthwhile once you see your kid smiling on stage. I am already looking forward to the next year function.
When we admitted her in school, there was no standard disclaimer that the fees paid includes or does not include so-and-so also. I am sure most of us keep sending amounts every month either for a new book in library under the child’s name, field trip, material for activity class, additional books, donation to some charity institution, etc. Include dress for dance on cultural day, raffle tickets (??), entry fees to that list.
The teachers have the maximum trouble. They need to prepare the kindergarten kids for the function. Making them stand in a straight line for 5 minutes is difficult enough. Imagine trying to make them dance to your tunes and in step. Highly impossible, I say. Even at the end of it all, kids tend to do what they please when they are on stage, including running down the stage when they see their parents in audience, fighting over each other during the show, crying or simply staring at their feet. And then there is the work of designing costumes for all of them and preparing props to be used. The teachers definitely have the hardest job.
The kids go through some trouble themselves. Dance is highly taxing for them mostly because it is forced on them. They definitely don’t enjoy anything that is forced. There are endless practice sessions and hours of waiting in itchy costumes before they go onto stage. There are a few with stage fright and dread looking at the audience. All this is a definite depart from their daily routine which makes them cranky.
Parents just need to ensure that the child attends all practice sessions and buy all the accessories as specified. They need to keep checking their bank balances and make sure that their monthly household budget has a column for ‘additional school remittances’.
For well-known schools, the function won’t be just ‘dance-and-go’. There will be a carnival or some other competitions to create enough buzz to ensure that their school gets mentioned in the next edition of newspapers.
But in spite of all this, I am sure that you will find that all these troubles are worthwhile once you see your kid smiling on stage. I am already looking forward to the next year function.
Talking about school functions
ReplyDeleteor even functions for our kids
at home, i could concur to the
point that we indeed need to
probably plan it out a month
or two in advance based on my
own experience this very month.
To share: just that i wanted to
have physical invitation cards printed out & invite personally for daughters second birthday this month (r'ther than shooting out just an e-mail or s'ndng web-soft-invitation) that the printers estimated at a total 21 days for printing and shipping.
I said, '21 days??' for printing cards?
During the days when m'rages are planned and done in about 2 weeks!, 21days for cards
wasn't in the scope, with birth-day itself in about a weeks time.
May be, the elevated estimate is due to the Christmas and holiday season here... but what ever be the case that forced me to put my
innovative skills to test and execution to still come up with a physical inv card determined that i am to make it... & nonetheless it was an learning experience,
& thanks to all-that as the hand-made one was much appreciated.
Hand-making crds for so many sounds Crazy, maybe!
But I didn't think of it as, 'do i have to hand-make so many for so many invities? and is it worth
the time/energy going into, with the bday within a week?',
also knowing i wudn't want to hand-make for anyone unless i love them or so..., but i thought of it as what i am doing as a 'Gift' to my daughter and for her birthday!,
& b'cos obviously i love my little cute daughter!
She's sooo little to know of this now that, may not even understand of this at this time and age, (further to add, wud piece-make/tear & bother falling over while busy with making these
if not kept out of reach...:), But with time, when she realizes of this, of what her parents did for her, she wud sure love us - parents for life!
In this electronic-age, our generation has photos, vedios and what not to take/preserve and show to our kids as they grow up. What did our parents hve at their time to preserve for years and show up to their kids(us) as we grew?
but for memories alone and alone with them?
Given that, one doesn't have to prove their love for others by showing anything and that it grows naturally anyway... but point is, if we forgot or were at an
age when we weren't enough to remember!, believe me... our parents too did everything that they could for us, b'cos they love us more than we do them...
and so dear readers...love them and take care of them too by giving back a little time of
ours everyday, as much as we want to give it to our spouse & kids!
Imagine… if u were shown a vedio of ur dad or mom hugging u close to heart Or when playing with u, like a kid, or of Mom making that great sweet cake at home for ur birthday!, Or vedio showing the day they surprised U with ur dream Gift!, or of dad’s best efforts in arranging finances for your admission into in that high profile college or just to send u to US for a job or to just get you married off to this well deserving groom, u love!.... and the list goes on…. : won’t that remind us of how much we owe them back?
- take care, & merry Christmas this 25th Dec.