All the world's a stage
I am living in a musical.
Or my girls are, anyway.
I was not aware of this until recently. Mine is a mostly non-singing, non-dancing role.
You know how in musicals, everyone will just be talking along, normal dialogue, blah blah blah, and then all of a sudden the music starts, and the characters just burst into song and start dancing around?
My girls did this the other day. Completely un-self-consciously, as though it were the most normal thing in the world. It was astounding. So astounding, I almost pulled the video camera out of its box somewhere in the hall closet, figured out how to work it, and recorded their little musical number. But instead, I just stood and watched.
It went something like this:
Scene: Mom and two kids in messy bedroom. Alphabet letters puzzle is on the floor, with most of the pieces inserted into the correct spots. A few letters are missing.
Beth: Now where could those letters be? I know they were here.
Mom: I don't know. I guess it's a mystery.
(cue music, clearly audible to girls but unheard by mom)
Beth: It's a mystery! We have to solve the mystery!
Lucy echoes: A mystery! We have to solve the mystery!
Beth: (doing a little march around the room) We will search, we will hunt, we will find the missing letters!
Lucy echoes: Find the letters! Find the letters!
Beth: (waving arms vigorously) Oh where could they be?
Lucy echoes: Where could they be?
Beth: (spinning in a circle) I know I had them once! They can't just disappear!
Lucy echoes: Disappear! Disappear!
Mom, speaking: (leans over and picks up a pair of jeans that had not been put in the laundry hamper. Letters are beneath them) Look, here they are.
Beth, still singing: (Leaps into the air in delight) We found the missing letters! We found the missing letters!
Lucy echoes: Found the letters, found the letters! Yeah! (She leaps into the air and then freezes into a triumphant pose. I swear she even had jazz hands)
(end only-audible-to-children music)
The way they went about this, as though spontaneous song and dance routines are a completely standard form of communication, was a little surreal. I may not be a character from a Disney musical...but Beth and Lucy apparently are.
Or my girls are, anyway.
I was not aware of this until recently. Mine is a mostly non-singing, non-dancing role.
You know how in musicals, everyone will just be talking along, normal dialogue, blah blah blah, and then all of a sudden the music starts, and the characters just burst into song and start dancing around?
My girls did this the other day. Completely un-self-consciously, as though it were the most normal thing in the world. It was astounding. So astounding, I almost pulled the video camera out of its box somewhere in the hall closet, figured out how to work it, and recorded their little musical number. But instead, I just stood and watched.
It went something like this:
Scene: Mom and two kids in messy bedroom. Alphabet letters puzzle is on the floor, with most of the pieces inserted into the correct spots. A few letters are missing.
Beth: Now where could those letters be? I know they were here.
Mom: I don't know. I guess it's a mystery.
(cue music, clearly audible to girls but unheard by mom)
Beth: It's a mystery! We have to solve the mystery!
Lucy echoes: A mystery! We have to solve the mystery!
Beth: (doing a little march around the room) We will search, we will hunt, we will find the missing letters!
Lucy echoes: Find the letters! Find the letters!
Beth: (waving arms vigorously) Oh where could they be?
Lucy echoes: Where could they be?
Beth: (spinning in a circle) I know I had them once! They can't just disappear!
Lucy echoes: Disappear! Disappear!
Mom, speaking: (leans over and picks up a pair of jeans that had not been put in the laundry hamper. Letters are beneath them) Look, here they are.
Beth, still singing: (Leaps into the air in delight) We found the missing letters! We found the missing letters!
Lucy echoes: Found the letters, found the letters! Yeah! (She leaps into the air and then freezes into a triumphant pose. I swear she even had jazz hands)
(end only-audible-to-children music)
The way they went about this, as though spontaneous song and dance routines are a completely standard form of communication, was a little surreal. I may not be a character from a Disney musical...but Beth and Lucy apparently are.
5 comments:
So cute. Love it!
That is just TOO funny!! That would have won you money on funniest home videos.
too funny!! I laughed out loud through the whole thing! :)
Oh Jen, Tom is in this stage too. Only his musical numbers tend to revolve around things like robots, monsters (the good kind) and superheros. But still, hilarious. His favorite thing is to dance around and sing songs to me. Love it.
Oh dear... i read this out loud to Seth when you first posted it and now every time he sees the banner of your blog it reminds him and he asked me to read the silly story to him. I usually give him the absentminded "not now, buddy.." but today I humored him and re-read it out loud. Too cute.
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