One of those days...

Ever had "one of those days..." ?

I had one today.
Today the fifth grade chorus class performed a christmas musical for the school. The chorus kids have been working on this music since late October. They memorized six songs, five pages of dialogue, auditioned for speaking roles, gave up recess to learn the stage blocking and choreography, they designed, built, and decorated the sets and staging for the entire play and they worked for nearly two months on building this show from the ground up. I even had one of the fifth graders choreograph an entire dance for a group of dancers. It was no small task, and the clincher is that they had no outside help. We had no parents help us with the sets, no teachers helped us with this show. They didn't have to help. The kids did everything. And I love it that way. It doesn't put anyone out, and it gives the kids an outlet for creativity and it gives them owneship in the show. It's a great process, and considering the obstacles we had to overcome to get this show ready (including getting run out of the cafeteria for teachers to prepare for a christmas party as well as a fire drill in the middle of dress rehearsal...), I was so proud of them for how good it turned out.
Well, we get this show rolling today for the K-2nd graders. And in the middle of the performance, a six year old says, "Oh no, not them again..." and he was referring to the chorus students who were getting back on stage to sing. My heart broke for these kids. And NATURALLY, the little loud mouth was loud enough for a bunch of people to hear. If you could have looked into the eyes of my fifth graders and seen the defeat on their faces, it would have killed you. It nearly ripped my heart out. Personally, I was ripped apart. I thought to myself, why in the WORLD did we work for TWO MONTHS of our lives to put this show on for an ungrateful audience? I had a few co-workers talking in the hall today about how they were upset that music was cancelled... it goes on and on. You just can't win.

I don't know why I felt compelled to share this on my blog. I just felt so broken-hearted for those kids who gave so much for over two months and who did such a great job. It reminded me how powerful words are... even when coming out of the mouth of a six year old.

"Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing. Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, Here's what you do: Say nothing evil or hurtful; Snub evil and cultivate good; run after peace for all you're worth. God looks on all this with approval, listening and responding well to what he's asked; But he turns his back on those who do evil things." 1 Peter 3:8 (message)


Then to top it all off, I think I'm coming down with something.... I think I'll go to bed and start over tomorrow. :)