A first nursery nativity play

Note to self, in future always arrive at school events 10 minutes beforehand rather than 2 minutes before. For N’s first nativity play at day nursery, I arrived to find I was the last parent by miles to arrive, and poor N was gazing round obviously looking at all the parents and wondering where I was.  Even though I walked right by where he was sitting to get to the last seat, he didn’t notice me for ages.

I know everyone always says take tissues, and boy I wish I had done.  I’ve got soppy in my old age…I always used to cry reading books and watching films, but after living in a girls boarding house for 2 years, that was the final straw.  Add to that having a child and I’ll cry at anything slightly emotional, even if it involves other people’s children.

N was a king in his nativity play.  I’d debated trying to make a costume, but thought that was a bit adventurous having not used a sewing machine since school.  So supermarket costume was duly bought and worn.

When I took my seat, N was sitting calmly in his place.  Where he sat all through the rest, nicely until it was his turn to get up with the other kings and do their stint.  It was so funny watching him – just these huge eyes, looking round.  And despite all his singing over the last week or two that he’s been doing about the ‘Noisy Nativity’, he did not sing one note!  Not that many of the others did either, but I thought he might have got into it once the music started.

Obviously being a children’s nativity there were the expected incidents….Joseph was struggling to push round the wheeled donkey as well as holding Mary’s hand.  One angel didn’t want to get up and do her walk round/dance, so the other angel happily did it brilliantly on her own (inbetween hoisting up her too long costume).  Then when the shepherds were announced, one jumped up and said ‘we’re shepherds’ and off they went.

When it was the king’s turn, they were walking along, to a ‘bumpy’ song about travelling on a camel.  That explains why N has been practising riding a camel (or whatever item is to hand) the past few days.  I’m not sure that his ‘gift’ should have been used as a camel though, it looked like he needed a pee!

They gave their gifts to the baby though, so it went smoothly enough.  Then it came to them all standing up and ‘singing’ We Wish you a Merry Christmas.  By that point, N wanted to come and stand right at the front virtually sitting on my lap until he was encouraged to stand back a bit.  I was expecting him to bow at the end because he’d told me before that’s what they had to do, but in fact, all the parents clapped, and then he came and had a hug.  His first words to me were ‘I’m hungry, I want a biscuit’.  Hmm, he’d obviously spotted the parents being given mince pies but luckily he had biscuits at snack time.

While he loves the drama classes that he does at nursery, I’m not sure on that first performance that he’ll ever be a natural performer.  Hopefully he’ll be like me and if he takes up a musical instrument he’ll be happy performing with that, rather than having to act.

It was lovely to watch and I’m really glad I was able to go.  Now I’ve seen him looking round and looking out for me, I’m hoping that I’ll be able to make more of his events once he’s at school and more.  The OH is unlikely to ever want to attend, so I shall have to try and get to them all rather than sharing them out.

I had another real awww moment when at bedtime I asked him if he’d enjoyed doing the nativity. ‘I liked you being there, Mummy’.  Ahhhh.

Have your children been in a nativity?  What role did you used to end up with as a child (I was always a shepherd)?