Sing a Song

I am not a morning person.

I HATE mornings...yes, I am a night owl.

So this morning, when the alarm went off at 5:00 am, I was not a happy camper.

But I hauled myself out of bed because I had a job to do. And since it was for GOTT and the kids...well, I wasn't happy and chipper (at first) but I fumbled with the alarm...ok, i hit the "snooze" button once...or twice...and THEN finally got out of bed and jumped into the shower.

And dang, Je t'aime Jamie (yes, I finally figured out I have been butchering the French word for "I love you")was teaching spin AND body pump this morning...and I was gonna be...on a bus...with twentysomething 7th and 8th graders.

Yeah, being the choir mom is not always fun...but strangely it is a job I love.

So today we had the auditions for the Region Choir. 1000 7th and 8th graders competing to make a combined choir. Actually they started last night with the 7th grade girls.

My sweet friend Broadway Betty (not her real name of course...but she loves Broadway musicals) was my partner for it. But bless her heart she pulled her back the night before. But because she is a dedicated choir mom, she skipped taking her meds (so she could drive) and helped me wrangle girls.

Not that these girls needed wrangling...7 7th grade girls that were no more trouble than a box of kittens.

Lucky for my Broadway Betty is sooooo dedicated that she let me leave early so I could see The Cutest Boy in the World fight for 3rd place in the city wrestling championships....oh yes, he got it...should have won the whole thing but got bested by a few points by the boy he beat last week (and had beaten before). Such is how wrestling goes. Further reason to hate it.

So I helped out for a few hours last night and today, because Broadway Betty was laid up with the back (and hopefully back on the pain meds), I had the help of the Marvelous Maggie---my sweet friend who makes me laugh and can wrangle kids with the best of them.

I got up, got a very tired and bruised and battered Cutest Boy in the World up, got dressed and we headed to the school.

The kids warmed up their voices with GOTT and because I am a glutton for punishment, I rode the bus.

I gave my kids the usual speech about behaving, and what to do, and where the bathrooms were at the school.

Then I gave them the witch speech.

The football team has heard it before...but this time I had to lay it on the choir kids. Not the choir kids need the same kind of managing as the football team but a good speech is a good speech.

It goes like this:

"Ok kids...I can be 2 kinds of witch. One witch is all "Glinda"...she sparkles...she wears pink and glitter and she is shiny and nice and pretty and happy and she makes good things happen. I"m all pink and sparkly when I am happy. BUT...if you do anything to embarrass us or cause trouble the monkeys are gonna fly and I will turn into a very ugly green witch and sparks will fly from my fingers. Trust me, you want to keep me pink and sparkly so don't misbehave and please do as I ask you. Cause Glinda is a lot nicer than the Wicked Witch of the West!!!!"

I forgot to add the part that it was useless to try and throw water on me if I turn green because I have proven that I don't melt...

But then again maybe I do because I manage to melt the pounds away with sweat...but that just makes the speech too complicated.

So the kids "got" it...and I am happy to say that the day was trouble free...

EXCEPT

for one tiny little thing...

We had a glitch.

And the monkeys flew.

Because the Region director wouldn't let one of my kids audition.

And I turned green.

Thankfully all the monkey flying was not directed at a child but rather at the director of the Region...cause she pissed me off.

We had a child, who I will call Excellent Emma, who had been given permission to come late to the auditions because she had something earlier that day she had to do.

Now the "what she had to do" is not important...well, it was important but I will not get into it here because it would delve into the boring to discuss it and I delve into the boring enough on this blog.

So let's just leave it to "she had something she had to do"...and it was important...important to her, to her family, and to her beliefs.

So when she arrived late (as scheduled) I took her to the check in desk and things seemed to be going well until the director arrived...

And then all hell broke looose and I let the monkeys fly when she informed us that Excellent Emma would not be allowed to audition.

Ummmm.....

NOOOOOOOOOO....

That's when the tears started.

Mine.

Not Excellent Emma.

She just stood there graciously and took it all in and said "that's ok".

I. Was. Pissed.

Mama was not happy...and when the Choir Mama is not happy...well, ain't nobody gonna be happy.

I argued with her.

I begged.

Excellent Emma kept her composure.

I did not.

More tears...

Huge frustration with the situation...

So I had to pull out the big guns.

I. Called. GOTT...

or rather, texted him...because he was done judging and I wasn't gonna go gently into that good night (or rather afternoon...).

He fixed it...

So we thought...

After a bit more "yes, she can..." and "no, she can't..." it was finally decided that she was not going to be allowed to audition for the Region Choir.

Excellent Emma showed poise well beyond her 8th grader years.

I behaved like a Kindergartener...

I don't accept "stupid" easily!

Once it was over, GOTT handled it perfectly and Excellent Emma accepted the hand that was dealt to her.

I"m still mad...hence this blog to relieve my frustration and anger.

She is not my child, but when I am in "Choir Mom Mode" or "Drama Mama Mode" ANY and EVERY child is mine...and at that moment she was as much mine as the 2 I gave birth to.

I rode home with Excellent Emma and her father.

She never uttered a word of complaint or sadness. She took it with all the grace and decorum of royalty. She was the grownup.

She impressed the hell out of me.

Not many of "my" kids would have handled it that way.

She did not pity herself. She did not cry.

The tears were all mine.

And I learned a lesson.

A year or so ago I learned a lesson from one of her classmates---the Magnificent Maggie when she showed grace and composure at her Bat Mitzvah and taught me a lesson then.

And Excellent Emma taught me a lesson today---that sometimes you just have to accept the things you cannot change...you have to roll with the punches...you have to play with the hand that is dealt to you.

I learned a lesson from an 8th grader...and she is one heck of a fine young woman.

I admire her.

I love her.

And I hope, next time I am faced with disappointment and a bitter pill to swallow that I can handle it with the grace and poise that she showed today.

So thank you, Excellent Emma...for being excellent.

But the choir mom still isn't happy...

And the monkeys are still flying...

I just hope I can get them wrangled back into the witches castle soon...because right now I have a large group of my daughters friends outside on my patio...having a cookout...at 10:30 at night. I really think my monkeys are tired and they don't want to fight anymore.

I think my next blog might be "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"...let's hope not!

And let's hope my house doesn't catch on fire...

Inspiration Song: "Sing a Song" by Earth, Wind, and Fire...cause today I had a lovely group of children sing some songs quite well thanks to GOTT...and the Earth, Wind and Fire part fits...because I am Mother Earth...and today when the wind blew...I reigned FIRE...

Bye Darlings...stand up for the kids you love...even if they are not your own...they might just show more maturity than you do.

And Excellent Emma...I love you...an I love the way you conducted yourself today...you are a credit to your parents, your school, and yourself!