Among my peers at work, there is universal agreement that this is the absolute worst week of the year: Christmas program week. Our music teacher (who is amazing) writes two programs every year, one for the younger grades, and one for the older grades. The kids practice for weeks during their regular music classes, leading up to this week, where we have an excruciating 3-hour rehearsal one day and then dress rehearsal/performances for the school, followed by this evening's (for my students, anyway) performance for the families.
We had the same complaints as last year: we had no idea what was going on, it's impossible to effectively wrangle 200 students without a plan, it was too hot waiting out in the sun, etc. Tuesday, the 3-hour rehearsal day, was a long slog but of course we all survived. Meanwhile, we're still trying to deliver curriculum and keep the students on track -- we still have 3 weeks to go until Christmas break!
So that brings us to today, with an afternoon performance for the younger grades, and an evening performance for the parents. Aside from a few dress code issues (We told the girls if their skirts were too short, they'd have to wear altar server robes, and some of them didn't believe us...), the evening went very smoothly and the students performed very well. I absolutely loved seeing how enthusiastically my homeroom students, especially the boys, participated in all their songs. They really are a great group of kids, even though they've been daily draining my well of patience dry.
Afterwards, it was lovely to visit with the parents, and to see former students who had returned to see younger siblings. Even though I didn't get home until after 8:30pm (having left home at 6:20am to attend a memorial mass for my parents this morning!), it was a wonderful evening. And only a tiny part of that feeling is because it's over, and now our schedule can get back to normal for a bit as we speed towards the holiday. ¡Feliz Navidad!
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