Siri's Christmas program

Yesterday afternoon was Siri's Christmas program. It's definitely a "take the afternoon off from doing legal work" kind of an occasion. Carina and I both went with Fliss to watch Siri.

Her preschool is great, by the way. It's run by a woman in our neighborhood named Wendy Sorensen. She has a couple of openings for next "semester." If you live around Foothill Village and are looking to put your child in a great preschool, let MormonMisterMom hook you up.

So, they sang and chanted and marched like little kids excited for Christmas. My favorite part of the program was also a "bad dad" moment that turned out great. They sang a little song where each of the nine kids got to say something that there was going to be a lot of at Christmas time. A kid would say "Presents!" and then the class would sing something along the lines of "There will be lots of presents, lots of presents, lots of presents at Christmas time."

I was filming the program with our five year old video camera. I also have a plugged up left ear that I need to get cleaned. One of the kids had her turn right as I was looking down at the camera. I looked up to see if it was Siri who had spoken, but missed it and wasn't sure. The song ended and every kid had had a turn--except for Siri. Miss Wendy asked if they all had a turn. I wasn't sure so I kept quiet. I blame the plugged up ear and not wanting to be too conspicuous as a SaHD. Luckily, one of the other moms (who also sends her daughter to our house for regular playdates when Carina is home) was on top of things and let Miss Wendy know that Siri hadn't had a turn. So she asked Siri to pick something that there would be lots of at Christmas time. Lots of pressure on Siri here because eight things had already been picked. Reindeer, presents, angels, Santa Clauses, lights, candy, and a couple of other things. It was one of those moments when, as a parent, you're like, "Oh, man. I hope my child doesn't totally fail." Such a moment is especially mortifying as a stay-at-home dad (I think I just created the acronym SaHD for that--too much to type over and over). The reason being that if your child fails, it's even more your fault than it would be if you're a mom. Your child will quickly be labeled as "that kid with the stay-at-home dad." Moms do such a great job at prepping their kids for thinks like Primary programs and little performances. A SaHD has a lot to live up to without the natural instincts for this type of prepping to fall back on. In fact, I think all the time that teenage girls spend in front of the mirror primping (if they're all anything like my sister Liz) gives them the special ability to sense when their child is properly prepped for something coming up. Dads don't have that sense. And I'm rambling. The point is, if you're a SaHD and your kid fails at something like this, the other moms will NEVER let their kid come to your house for a playdate. "That dad didn't prep his daughter for the Christmas program. One can only imagine the kinds of things that go on at that house!" One program gaff and I'd be back to square one with earning the trust of moms.

So there's Siri, all eyes on her, outside of the flow of the regular song, expected to say something relevant to Christmas. She paused for about ten seconds, ummmming and ummming and ummming. She looked around to see if someone was going to help her. She ummmed one more time and said, almost as a question, "Wed noses? (yes, Siri can't say her "R"s yet--it's kind of cute if you know the code)" The room erupted in laughter. Not the expected answer. But there's no denying that Rudolph has a red nose and that Santa has a red nose and that we all have red noses when we spend too much time in the cold. Relevant and a little clever. She's a cute kid that way. She usually gets the big laugh in performances. I was proud. Later, I heard one of the other moms say, "She's such a character," in a loving way. My kid is the character of the bunch. Do characters with SaHDs get playdates? Only time will tell.

Here are some pictures of the event for your enjoyment (or at least for the enjoyment of my wife).


Siri's class. They're a good group of kids.



Fliss had a great time, too.



Siri with Santa. She couldn't remember what she wanted for Christmas. Carina reminded her of the My Little Pony amusement park she's in to. After having her memory jogged, Siri would not stop giving Santa all the details. She went on and on and on. Santa was a good sport. I think it was in the midst of this that one of the moms promoted her to "character" status.



Fliss wasn't as in to Santa.



And here I am with my girls. Someone needs to remind me not to look like a total scrub when I leave the house. I know that moms are used to getting done up before they leave. I don't have that habit as a SaHD. I make a point of looking professional if I'm going to do some legal work after I leave the house. But it doesn't occur to me that I should look presentable at a preschool Christmas program. Yet.