I know it's nearly the end of January, and late for any more Christmas stories, but as I was absent from here over that period, I'm going to add it in now.
Christmas concerts at school for J have always brought unintentional laughter, not scripted or rehearsed prior to his appearance, and sometimes embarrassment.
Going back to when he was 5 years old, he played one of the Three Wise Men, and he and the other two Wise Men had to walk around in a circle, around the baby Jesus. J made the decision to break free from the trio and head for the school hall doors. On his way out, he flicked the light switches, and plunged the hall into near darkness, much to the surprise of the parents, teachers, and other students ; it still makes me laugh now.
2014's Christmas concert at school brought a new funny story, that I also managed to record on video.
He and his small class group were dressed in winter clothes, hats and scarves, and there was a giant, blank snowman cardboard cut out that each child had an item of clothing or a vegetable to add to, to create the full snowman.
The teacher handed J the microphone to speak into, to which he should have said "here is a carrot", but instead he proclaimed very loudly, "get off the dog".
No one really batted an eyelid at this, as after all it is a special school, and J doesn't have much speech, but I was chuckling away, as it's something I tell him every day, as he is always over zealous with one of our Labradors, and being laid back dogs, they don't move, growl, or make any kind of complaint to him.
There was another microphone incident that was near to Christmas, and was at his youngest brother's Christening. I have blogged about it before, at the time it occurred, but it deserves a mention again.
After the service, J went into the pulpit, where the microphone was stored, and made a lot of noise into it, a kind of huffing, puffing, blowing, noise. It reverberated around the Church, and stopped us all in our conversations and photo taking!
There was the 2010 school concert that saw him spitting at people in the front row. Spitting was his latest fad at that time, and he would do it when stressed. I had to sit several rows back (as I wasn't first into the hall to sit down at the front), and watch as he spat away. It wasn't great big gooey spits, more the small saliva ones that didn't travel far. I tried to intervene with looks of disapproval at his behaviour, wagging my finger to tell him "no", and wanted to get up and remove him from there, but it was awkward and I couldn't just barge into the class's well rehearsed show, so I was trying to urge one of the staff to stop him, which eventually one of them did. It was not a good experience and one that caused me a fair bit of embarrassment, despite all the parents who I apologised to afterwards, saying it was fine, and that they understood.
There have, of course, been many other concerts I have attended that have not had such a story to tell, but there is still the over whelming part of them that shows the sheer hard work that the staff and the children put into creating them. It's very humbling to be in the audience and watch so many special children try their hardest to either dance, sing, shake a maracas, or to just be stood in front of a sea of faces watching them.
Many parents, carers, and family members will not leave the concert without shedding a tear or getting a lump in their throat. As well as being a fun celebration, it is when we see the whole school come together, united. Our special children are amazing, and these shows just go to prove that.
I know there will be more stories of J and his ability to bring his own uniqueness to concerts and shows, and I positively look forward to them, wondering how he can top his "get off the dog" comment, or deciding the show should finish, and switch all the lights off. He's one of a kind. My Boy!
