SAA Mini Musical Camp

To ease the transition of Junior Kindergarten in the fall, I signed Helen Grace up for two one-week-long camps at St. Agnes this summer: first, mini musical camp for ‘Annie,’ and then the following week, Jump Back to School.

Last Monday was her first day of theatre camp. I planned on going in late to work so that I could take her and get her settled. That morning, right as we were about to walk out the door, she started crying huge crocodile tears, saying she didn’t want to go because it was new and she didn’t know anyone, she didn’t want me to leave her, etc. I was able to calm her down, change the subject, and get her in the car, but of course, I was a nervous wreck the whole way there. I wasn’t sure if they would let her keep her lovey, so when we arrived, I was able to talk her into leaving her monkey in the car but let her take lovey. I walked her in, and she clung to me like glue. There was one other little girl there, so we (I) talked to her for a bit and then we went to the bathroom. When we came back, a lot more girls were there, including one who was sobbing. I sat her down next to another shy little girl, and once HG got comfortable with that girl, I suggested they go help the crier. HG hopped up and gave me a kiss and headed off to offer one of her Nutter Butters to the crying girl. My heart melted right there.

On my way to the car, I ran into some friends from our moms’ group at Hope, and I was ecstatic that Helen Grace would now have a friend in the camp! When I got outside, I remembered that I had a sippy in the car, and a lot of the girls brought a drink for their snack time. I debated if it would upset her for me to go back inside, but I finally decided that I’d rather her have some juice and headed back inside with the sippy. I was pleasantly surprised that she was fine and interacting with the other girls. She smiled and thanked me for the cup and went right back to playing. No upset at all.

Afterward, Grandma and Peggy met me at the school and were planning on taking her back home while I went back to work. Grandma slipped into the theatre and then sent me the most excited text message saying, “AND THERE WAS OUR GIRL CENTER STAGE HAVING THE TIME OF HER LIFE!!!” HG ran out to us afterward, and although she said she had to follow instructions, she had a good time. I caught her singing some of the lyrics, even though she wouldn’t sing any of it for me.

On Tuesday morning, she briefly complained that I couldn’t come with her to camp and was a little unsure about what they were going to do that day, but she was so proud of herself that no one cried. She told me that, “today was awesome!” and the teacher was so much fun.

On Wednesday, she was used to hanging out with me on a ‘mommy day’ and wanted to go to the grocery store with me. But again, when we got there, she was excited and said, “I love my school!,” when we pulled up.

Thursday was the perfect day. No whining or complaining and was happy to go.

On Friday, they had their ‘performance’ of two songs- “Tomorrow” and “Hard Knock Life,” and she was a little anxious because she was scared when her teacher acted like Mrs. Hannigan. ‘Acting’ is a hard concept for four year olds! And Grace Ann was spending a few days with us and I think she’d have rather hung out with her, but she enjoyed showing Grace Ann around her school and went happily into the theatre.

Completely opposite of her dance recital performances, she was so shy on the stage and barely opened her mouth. I thought for sure she would belt out “Tomorrow,” but she held back. She had quite the cheering section and smiled and waved when she saw us- Mama, Daddy, Granddaddy, Spiffer, Grace Ann, Worth, and Suzanne. Grandma was stuck at work. :(

But despite her shyness, she said she enjoyed the camp and would do it again next year. Above any acting and singing, she’s getting used to her new school and easing the transition, and that is PRICELESS!

“Cut the pickle” “Tickle, tickle!”