I posted on Facebook recently, asking whether anxieties about one's offspring ever go away, and had a response from a wide variety of people. The consensus was 'no'. Once a parent, always a parent. Which is just fine as far as I'm concerned.
And now I'm a grandmother too! But more of that below...
The last couple of weeks have been somewhat more stressful in the parental respect than usual. Tim was involved in his primary school's first ever musical theatre production. One of the teachers produced it: she organised the scripting and coached the actors (all Year/Grade 6 children, aged about 11-13) while Tim orchestrated and recorded the music and trained the choir (including some slightly younger children). Far from an easy task as many of the children had previously done no drama, and not much singing. Arts are not taken very seriously in schools here, which is rather ironic considering the history of Cyprus.
Tim also ended up responsible for PA and general technology for the production; with 20 or so inexperienced children on a biggish school hall stage, some of them singing solos, it became clear that a large number of radio microphones would be needed. Tim arranged to hire some from a friend in the next town and also to be in charge of the PA in general.
Then there was a dress rehearsal with younger children from the school watching, and three full performances, two of which were sell-outs. Richard and I went to the last performance on Saturday night and were very impressed - amazing backdrops, terrific music, children who could sing, and lots of details, right down to the design of the tickets, beautifully done. Some of those with speaking parts inevitably stood out above the rest, yet they all did well: nobody forgot lines, and if some of them talked a bit over-fast at times, we could still hear every word.
At the end the cast took a final bow, the teacher who was producing it went on stage, and then some of the choir members stood up and called for 'Mr Tim!' to join them too.
Alas, photography was not allowed so I can't post any pictures of the production, but some official ones were taken and a local newspaper was there at the first performance. It was given an excellent review.
Tim was just recovering from the buzz late Saturday evening when we received a text telling us that our daughter-in-law was in the early stages of labour. This is the other reason we've been feeling a bit stressed for the last couple of weeks: our first grandchild, due near the end of May, had not yet put in an appearance.
We spent most of yesterday wondering how things were going, feeling anxious, praying... and then had a text message from Daniel letting us know that all was well and that our grandson David had arrived safely after a long labour.
Four and a half kilos (9lb 15oz) - that's a big baby.
Here's Daniel with his newborn son:
When I saw the photo, I was struck immediately by the resemblance to Daniel as a baby. I'm not one to notice newborn resemblances, in general, but it sent me to my 1986 photos; here's one of me with Daniel at a couple of hours old for comparison:
We are so pleased, and very relieved that David has arrived at last. Pentecost Sunday is the birthday of the Church, the start of many new things: a perfect day for Daniel and Becky to start on the lifelong adventure of parenting.
And now I'm a grandmother too! But more of that below...
The last couple of weeks have been somewhat more stressful in the parental respect than usual. Tim was involved in his primary school's first ever musical theatre production. One of the teachers produced it: she organised the scripting and coached the actors (all Year/Grade 6 children, aged about 11-13) while Tim orchestrated and recorded the music and trained the choir (including some slightly younger children). Far from an easy task as many of the children had previously done no drama, and not much singing. Arts are not taken very seriously in schools here, which is rather ironic considering the history of Cyprus.
Tim also ended up responsible for PA and general technology for the production; with 20 or so inexperienced children on a biggish school hall stage, some of them singing solos, it became clear that a large number of radio microphones would be needed. Tim arranged to hire some from a friend in the next town and also to be in charge of the PA in general.
Then there was a dress rehearsal with younger children from the school watching, and three full performances, two of which were sell-outs. Richard and I went to the last performance on Saturday night and were very impressed - amazing backdrops, terrific music, children who could sing, and lots of details, right down to the design of the tickets, beautifully done. Some of those with speaking parts inevitably stood out above the rest, yet they all did well: nobody forgot lines, and if some of them talked a bit over-fast at times, we could still hear every word.
At the end the cast took a final bow, the teacher who was producing it went on stage, and then some of the choir members stood up and called for 'Mr Tim!' to join them too.
Alas, photography was not allowed so I can't post any pictures of the production, but some official ones were taken and a local newspaper was there at the first performance. It was given an excellent review.
Tim was just recovering from the buzz late Saturday evening when we received a text telling us that our daughter-in-law was in the early stages of labour. This is the other reason we've been feeling a bit stressed for the last couple of weeks: our first grandchild, due near the end of May, had not yet put in an appearance.
We spent most of yesterday wondering how things were going, feeling anxious, praying... and then had a text message from Daniel letting us know that all was well and that our grandson David had arrived safely after a long labour.
Four and a half kilos (9lb 15oz) - that's a big baby.
Here's Daniel with his newborn son:
When I saw the photo, I was struck immediately by the resemblance to Daniel as a baby. I'm not one to notice newborn resemblances, in general, but it sent me to my 1986 photos; here's one of me with Daniel at a couple of hours old for comparison:
We are so pleased, and very relieved that David has arrived at last. Pentecost Sunday is the birthday of the Church, the start of many new things: a perfect day for Daniel and Becky to start on the lifelong adventure of parenting.
2 comments:
Photography 'not allowed' in an amateur production seems rather heavy-handed.
Apparently it's because on previous occasions people in the front rows have spent the whole time with iPads in the air, so that nobody else could see.
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