Press Your Luck

One of the traditions at the Christmas Eve service at our church is to have a Children's Conversation, during which all of the kids dress up as the different players in the Nativity scene. There's a Mary, a Joseph, some angels, wise people, shepherds, and animals.

This year, once the kids were in their costumes, our pastors asked a series of questions about the birth of Jesus. Now, this is always an act of faith, as the kids' answers to these questions can range from profound to ridiculous. And the stakes are raised on Christmas Eve, when the kids are giddy with excitement for Christmas morning.

As the conversation started, we could sense in our three kids that that the longer it continued, the more likely their exhilharation would manifest in some silly outburst. It might be after four questions, it might be after eight questions -- and it occurred to me that whether they realized it or not, with each question the pastors were engaging in a game of Press Your Luck. But so far, the kids' responses had all been quite appropriate up until now, and the pastors continued to move the conversation forward.

The next question was asked. "In light of the surprise of God appearing to humankind through the baby Jesus, what could God do to surprise us on *this* Christmas morning?"

Zachary (dressed like a sheep) raised his hand. And then -- somewhat uncharacteristically -- bleated into the microphone. "Baaaaaaa!"

Zach, Ben, and Phoebe erupted in giggles. (Fortunately, the silliness didn't seem to extend to the other kids involved in the conversation.) Linda and I smiled while people in our church family gave us sympathetic looks.

And then, after a few more questions (which Zachary was not invited to answer), the conversation was over.

After getting not nearly enough sleep, Christmas morning came, and the kids had many more opportunities to exhibit the sometimes silly, over-the-top joy and delight that the holiday brings out in our kids.

Thanks to our Pastors, Tom and Laurie, for their patience and willingness to listen to all our kids have to offer, be it profound or ridiculous.

The Comedian

A couple of months ago, Phoebe and I started rehearsing an act for the CBC talent show. It was an old Sesame Street skit where Prairie Dawn (the little girl muppet) sings a song which describes words that begin with the letter Q while Grover (the perpetually befuddled blue monster muppet) makes silly, incorrect guesses, eventually exasperating Prairie Dawn.

Phoebe was just adorable during these practice sessions, the song was funny, and the whole thing seemed like it was going to be a slam dunk.

That is, until about two weeks ago, when Phoebe decided that she no longer wanted to sing the song, and no amount of coaxing was going to change her mind.

We still had a time slot reserved, so I started scrambling for a new idea. But Phoebe shot down every idea I came up with. Finally, with only a few days left until showtime, she agreed to tell some jokes.

So last weekend, I served as Phoebe’s straight man in a comedy routine which showcased gags like:

Patient: Doctor, doctor! My husband thinks he's a chicken!
Doctor: How long has this been going on?
Patient: For about five years.
Doctor: Five years? Why haven't you come to see me sooner?
Patient: Because we needed the eggs.

But the most inspired thing about the act was this: after each joke, Zach (sitting just offstage) played the vaudeville-like reaction noise on his trombone. WAAHHH-waahh!

Ben even got in on the action with a few gags of his own.

But Phoebe – well, she got such a great crowd reaction and so many compliments afterward that now, she has the comedy bug in a big way. She recites her jokes every chance she gets, and she’s already talking about what she wants to do at the next talent show. I think I can probably just forget about the cutesy little-girl stuff. We have a stand-up comedian on our hands.

Phoebe's Favorite Things

Phoebe made this project in school last week. It represents her favorite sport, the thing that is most important to her, her favorite book, and her favorite food.

(The poster reads "Soccer", "My Family", "Fairy Realm", and "bacon".)

Three things to note: First, as much as we love Phoebe's kindergarten teacher, we're not sure what to do about the fact that she regularly misspells Phoebe's name, transposing the "o" and the "e".

Second, Phoebe wasn't nearly as amused as I was when I asked whether her favorite sport was really bacon.

Third, when I told Phoebe I would put her picture up on our blog, her response was "Ewww, that sounds disgusting!"

Comedy is Not Pretty

Phoebe had some jokes for me when I got home from work today:

Why did Cinderella get kicked off the soccer team?
Because she always ran away from the ball.

Did you hear about the dancing sheep?
She's a baaaa-lerina.

What's a cat's favorite color?
Purrr-ple.