Nutcracker Madness Begins

Friday night, as I laid in bed I knew that I was going to have a big day on Saturday. I knew that I was going to have to try very, very hard not to get too stressed or worked up. I tried really hard to convince myself that I am just a bystander. I don't need to stress. Here is how the day played out.

I woke up about 7:15 to start cleaning my house (just in case).

Then I cooked beignets for breakfast, and sent Jacey and Gregg to a few of the neighbors with bags of beignets to share.

Max's Soccer Game.

Max played a fabulous game even though the other team scored more times than his team. Grandma and Grandpa came to watch, and it is really fun to watch the boys take the game to the next level. I have no idea what the rules are anymore. So, I honestly can't yell from the sidelines to Max and tell him where he should be. All I can do is cheer when he does something good. I am thinking this is a good thing for Max's sake. This is not the same for Gregg.

Jacey's Nutcracker Tryouts

We left Max's soccer game early to get to tryouts on time. Jacey earlier in the day had told me she was glad that her last name started with P because that meant she never had to go first. She could watch others and prepare herself for her turn. However, when we walked in to get her number, they handed her #1. This meant she had to go first. Honestly, I had done a pretty good job at brain washing myself that I was calm until that moment. I knew that Jacey was now stressed, which meant for some reason I had to be stressed with her. By the time I got home, I had less fingernails, and I was trying deep breathing techniques. My stomach decided that it would stay calm, but my throat did not respond as well. The best part of Jacey being the first to tryout was that she came out first. I didn't have to see all the smiles and tears of other girls before I found out if she made it. She did. Congratulations Jacey.

Max's Nutcracker Tryouts

Max had a friend that was a party boy in last year's production of the Nutcracker. He decided that if Landon could do it, so could he. So he started telling us last year that he wanted to tryout this year. I was very hesitant to give in. This is Jacey's realm. I didn't want Max to out shine his sister. In the end, we decided it was okay, but I did tell him that he couldn't tryout if his sister didn't make it. That would have been awful for Jacey.

When I dropped Max off, there were more boys than I thought there would be. He went into the dance studio, and because the other boys were stretching, he did too. He had no idea what he was in for, and I had no idea if he had a chance or not. I didn't know what they would be looking for. His tryout took a lot longer than I thought it should, so I had more time to practice breathing.

My cute, really smart, wonderful (did I mention prankster) son had a plan. He wanted me to think he didn't make it until he told me he did. So there were no smiles, no jumping, just a silent walk to his mom. Then he looked down at his congratulations letter and quietly said. "I made it." I didn't quite hear him, so I had to read the letter to make sure. He thinks he is so funny. What he didn't know is that most of the kids when they tryout don't give any indication of whether they make it or not until they see their parents, but as soon as they make eye contact the smile appears or the tears start to fall. Even though they think they don't need us, we are their anchors. Congratulations Max. You get to be part of the Nutcracker madness this year too.

Neighborhood Barbecue.

By 5:15 Gregg, who we had left home, started to get nervous that we would not be back in time for the neighborhood party at our house. He was greatly relieved to learn we were on our way home. He had everything set up and ready. One of the reasons that I love him, is that he thinks about everything. (Well except cleaning the house. Which is why I was up cleaning early on a Saturday.) We didn't have very many show up, but those who came had a good time. I even got to know some neighbors that I didn't know before. Gregg and I decided that we should do this more often. It wasn't really hard, and it was more pleasant than we thought it would be.

So after everything was over, I can honestly say I did pretty well. My stomach stayed calm, and my throat mellowed out, and I got to experience another incredible segment of this roller coaster ride through life.