Recital Week Comes to an End

Well, Hell Week No. 2 has ended with a collective sigh of relief. What started a week ago with dance recital rehearsals and chorus concerts has ended with the successful four-day run of the dance recital on Sunday afternoon. The dances were all a great success, the girls did phenominally well, and we even managed to juggle babysitting Baby Brigid in the midst of it all. Of course, because it was the weekend of the recital, temperatures shot up into the 90s, making it dually unbearable for dancers and spectators alike. I'm surprised no one passed out either on the stage or in the audience. The girls danced all four nights, with their tap routines being the nightly contribution. Their jazz routines were performed on Friday night, along with the tap routines, so they had six dances to perform that night -- the two tap numbers (one of which was a kick line), the two jazz numbers, the finale and the opening number, the mother/daughter tap dance that I participated in as well. I had to be there all four nights at least as far as the mother/daughter dance. My jazz numbers were Friday and Sunday, along with the finale on those two days. Whew, it just takes my breath away thinking about it again. It's a lot of fun, it's a lot of work and it's great when it's done.

Now we enter Hell Week No. 3, so named because I go away on Wednesday for two nights, leaving Jack to fend for himself with the girls. It's not so much Margaret and Patricia, who of course will be in school. It's Brigid and her refusal to sleep through the night in her own bed and my arsenal of ammunition -- two barrels -- that help her get back to sleep. We'll see how he does, but it can't be helped. I'll be in NYC on a conference.

Margaret starts final exams next week, if you can believe that. The school year is winding down in a whirlwind. Before we know it, they'll be out for the summer. Once next week is done, Margaret is done. Patricia has to go through June 26, but the days that week are all half days. I don't know why they do that. Why not send them for full days on Monday and Tuesday and call it a week? They only have to go in until 10 a.m. on Thursday to pick up their report cards. That seems ridiculous. But she'll be saying goodbye to the elementary school experience. Next fall she enters Stafford Middle School.

Along with the heat wave we've had some pretty warm nights for sleeping. Brigid slept through Saturday night, but she had a fitful night last night and neither she nor I got much sleep. We're thinking of breaking down and installing the air conditioners, even if the heat wave ends mid-week. I'd hate to go to NYC and leave Jack to cope with that kind of heat with a baby who won't go back to sleep. Now that's miserable.

With our dance recital schedules being so hectic, we called in reinforcements babysitter-wise, and Brigid had Lauren, our friend's 17-year-old daughter on Friday night. Lauren walked Brigid over to her aunt's house around the corner because they were celebrating a family birthday. Brigid was the hit of the party, taking Lauren's hand and walking her all over, eating cake and ice cream and charming everyone, so I'm told. Lauren's aunt -- our friend's sister -- is also the director of the child care center, so Brigid knows her intimately. Her name is Sally, but because Sally first met Brigid with a bottle of bubbles to help her overcome her fear the first day of day care, she has since been known as Sally Bubbles, so the party was at Sally Bubbles' house and Brigid couldn't have been happier.

Then, on Sunday, we called on another babysitter with connections to the child care center, Alaina, who is a college student who worked in Brigid's room for the last three weeks. She took a very hot and sweaty BB for a walk to a neighborhood market and bought her an ice cream, and that did the trick. Although Brigid knew Alaina from the center, I think the ice cream sealed the deal. And she brought a bag full of activities for the two of them to play.

All that added up to our being able to enjoy the recital -- both as performers and spectators -- without worrying about Brigid running around screaming. It makes a big difference. I did not shoot digital photos of the recital, just film. So when the film is developed, I'll have the images put on a CD so I can upload a few for the blog. The girls did a terrific job. I'm so proud of them.