A Busy But Exciting Week

It's been a bit hectic here this week, as it was the week of LB's school production on three of the evenings.  On account of this, her Grandma came down to London from Yorkshire, to watch her opening night on Tuesday.

Needless to say, the whole of Tuesday was given over to cleaning the house.  I'd done quite a bit of kitchen deep cleaning over the weekend, so it was mainly a case of a quick clean of the bathroom and toilet, hall, reception rooms and LB's room, where her Grandma would be sleeping.

I just about got everything done, but thankfully said visitor accompanied OH on the evening dog walk, allowing me a bit more time to finish off properly, cook a roast for dinner and get ready to go out to the school.

The performance itself was very entertaining.  I have to admit that I was very worried about LB performing her role in Hairspray, as it was her first big acting and singing role with lots of solos and dialogue to learn.

However, whilst not wanting to sound boastful, I was really happy to see her perform so well and do justice to both herself and the part. As did the rest of the cast, to produce a show that was really very funny and entertaining.

It just goes to show how attending every rehearsal, learning lines without any prompting from us and basically just having enthusiasm for the role, even after nearly six months of rehearsals, can have it's rewards.

I think her Grandma really enjoyed the show too. It was the first time she'd ever seen her sing and perform and I think she was very pleasantly surprised by her voice and her confidence. (Don't know where she gets either from!)

We didn't go to all of the three shows, omitting the Wednesday night performance, not wanting to appear to be overbearing and pushy parents.

Instead, we stayed away and worried about not being there and supporting her/willing her on. We did, however, intend to attend the last performance on Thursday, to see the culmination of all the work that had been put into the show and sent LB to school on Wednesday with money to buy the tickets.

When OH texted her later that day, she hadn't bought them and said she would try in the morning, but not wanting to miss out I decided to head to the school on the Wednesday night and buy the tickets myself before that night's performance started.

It was just as well that I did, as I bought the last two tickets available.  I was so relieved. I would have been so disappointed to have missed it. They all did so well and the performances were even better than when we'd previously seen them.

On both nights, several of the parents in the audience, that we knew, were very positive about her performance, which was very lovely to hear, and a relief, as I thought it might just be me wearing rose coloured spectacles.  I'm not a gushing parent, I keep a low profile at school and don't like to sing my daughter's praises, but it is nice when they receive positive feedback for their hard work.

If we're honest, both me and OH are a little uncomfortable about her putting herself out there and being so exposed to criticism, especially with all the social media there is today, but it was something she wanted to do, so we were happy to let her experience what it involved for herself and just support her as much as we could.

I think on the whole it has been a positive experience, a few hiccups along the way, but I think she is relieved now it is all over, as well as feeling a little sad.  She said it was a similar feeling to the last day at school.

At the end of the final show, she was surprised to receive a bunch of flowers from her fellow cast members to show appreciation for how hard she had worked on the show, which was very touching. Knowing her, we could tell she wasn't expecting it and was very surprised.

Now, it is a case of her getting back to normal.  Life has been one long round of rehearsals 2 or 3 times per week for months, and even on Saturday mornings and in school holidays. With the show over, her time is now her own again and normal family life can resume, something we are all very thankful for.