It was the usual morning frenzy Friday morning at the Calisoff house. Today’s frenzy du jour was the holiday show at school. Both Jack and Ben were performing and everyone, including the parents, were very excited.

It was a big day for Ben. In the past Ben has not done well in performance situations. I don’t know if you all remember the puppet show incident. He basically wandered around the stage during his performance then kicked and screamed his way off the stage. In hindsight, we figured standing alone on stage with no one to regulate him was a bad idea.

So when it was once again time for him to perform, we approached with trepidation. We actually told his aide not to let him perform. We didn’t want him ruining the show for everyone. And we’ve seen Jack’s school shows. They are AMAZING.

When we told her not to let him participate, her face fell. She told us he would be really disappointed and she thought he could do it. So we told her okay, but if it’s not working out we are okay not seeing him onstage.

The staff at school not only managed to teach him his lines and get him to practice, they also made him line leader. He was a leader! I was really, really hoping he would succeed.

So back to the Calisoff morning frenzy. For some reason, Jack said he couldn’t stand up to get dressed. He was acting very strange. But I don’t think anyone spent any time trying to figure out why. Jack really wanted to do the show and we really wanted to see him do it!

Please do not judge me when you see the picture I snapped before Adam took them so school. When I look at it I cringe. If it were in a newspaper the caption might read, “Stage Mom Ignores Sick Kid’s Symptoms. The Show Must Go On!”

 And the show did go on.

Ben did an incredible job. I couldn’t tell him apart from any other kid up there. He did the movements and sang the song. He waited patiently to lead the other kids off stage. I was so proud of him. HE DID IT!

Jack fought the sickness and performed in both shows. In between he put his head on his desk. As his teacher said, she knew he was sick because today they had plenty of opportunity to horse around with their buddies and he didn’t do it.

The auditorium was packed so there was no room for siblings but while I was watching Jack perform I turned around and saw this image in the doorway…

It was such an upbeat way to start the holiday season. Many thanks to Jack and Ben’s school!