"Awwwwww. . . . you all look so normal!"

That was the reaction of one of our fellow piano class/charter school parents, when she saw our whole clan Saturday, on parade in our nice-clothes & church regalia. I asked AK what she meant by that, and why she gets away with it, and I don't understand the answer, but I respect that she's just as harried as we are with her gaggle of munchkins and over-scheduled weekends. So it's cool. And she's right, dammit. Getting everyone into their Sunday duds is one thing. It's even harder when you add "extras": Mom's doing her hair & makeup and dad has to go get new pants (his suit pants still fit , but it would seem the waistbands shrunk on all of his corporate khakis) and both of the big boys need new belts. Oh and Max and I had to stop at Lowes so I could jury-rig the tri-pod for the camcorder for the recital. . . . etc. . .

So DAMN SKIPPY we look normal. And we earned it! We should get an award for achieving Normal Status.

Saturday consisted of: Gramma J visit, Max's piano recital, the groundbreaking ceremony for his charter school's new school facility, then a birthday party for Ben & Milo's little friend at dinner time. Gramma J visit passed so fast I barely remember, of course I think I slept through the first part of it. Then the piano recital was really something. I havent' attended any/many of his recitals so far. And that's a good thing. But both of us were ready, I did all the right Good Daddy Things and none of the Bad Daddy Things. He acted mature and relatively professional, so much that at the end he was lauded by his teacher more for his behavior than his playing.

That's not as bad as it sounds, his playing was really fine. He's played better, but his teacher understands that technique and accuracy are not where he needs help right now. It was clear to me in hearing the other children play (and from hearing Max play at home recently, he really wasn't his best at the recital though he was right there with his age group), that Max really does have a gift. Some kids are very practiced and very accurate, one in particular that I call The Mathematician, he gets not a note wrong or out of place. But The Mathematician's piece has no feeling, no ups and downs, no investment on his part aside from the hours of repetition and muscle memory. Some of the other older kids, however, (in addition to the accuracy that comes from practice), actually feel the music they're playing and take you on a little journey throughout the piece. Listening to them play was like a little classical piano concert, and reminded you why classiscal music was the Top 40 for hundreds of years. Well Max is neither of these species yet, but he clearly has a knack for the feeling and ups and downs and letting-the-music-happen part of things. If his parents cracked the whip and got him practicing as religiously as his teacher would like, he will be one of the little concert pianist musically-gifted kids in a few years. He's got the talent part, and that's good news. Where he needs to apply himself is in the acting professional-even-though-4th-grade-girl-who-I-suspect-kind-of-digs-him-is goofing off & trying to engage him during the recital. And it was here that he excelled yesterday, and it's why I was soooooo proud of him. He conquered his performance nerves just fine, and he performed nearly to his skill level, and he showed talent & artistic promise, and none of us are concerned about any of that stuff long term.

Here is his Alegretto 1, showing not so much the talent but a great deal of the technical stuff that comes from practice, which is harder for us and so much more meaningful. Only 3 little garfs, but never got lost & maintained composure like a pro. He also did a duet "Just Can't Wait To Be King" but you could barely hear him playing over his teacher so I'll just post this one. . .




Then there was us looking all Normal. . .

And most of his class, with our beloved Mrs. B the Ukrainian Suzuki Mistress. She is wholly committed with every cell of her being to the idea that love would flourish and peace would prevail on Earth if everyone would just play the piano. The Suzuki way. And no less than 4 hours a day, with another 2 spent listening to classical. :) In all seriousness, she appreciates Max's gifts and knows how to push him hard and make him proud of himself. And that is so rare today. And we adore her for this.

Then we proceeded to the groundbreaking cermony/party for his school's new school. His school is only it's 2nd or 3rd year of existence, and they've been doing their thing in leased digs. They've done very well with their current facility really, though there is no room for his current class and they are in an adjacent building. The new facility will be great, though not complete with cafeteria or full playground for a few years. And my standards are low, anything to avoid the perils of traditional Middle School!

Here is a photo & video of one of the festivities. See, the theme at his school is multi-culturalism. They learn both Spanish and Chinese from the earliest grades. So here we have a Turkish/Persian traditional music & dance presentation (yes, that is the same Little Patricia Arquette from piano). We learn here that, traditionally and multi-culturally, the women of Persia and the Near East. . .

. . .do The Monkey, do The Cabbage Patch, and work hard pull-starting their lawnmowers. :) Seriously, they were lovely and had worked hard to learn the dances and are learning early on as they should that the world is bigger than State College, PA.

Max and I opted out of the little kid birthday party & went bowling. It wasn't nearly as interesting as last time, and perhaps a little frustrating for The Maxinator. His approach is consistent and looks better than ever, he's doing all I've (calmly and with no pressure'ly) coached him on. Yet the ball hits gutter immediately after leaving his hand. I don't know how to fix it, he's never missed so many pins! So we just watched the music videos, rolled our frames, and enjoyed the entertainment of the drunk college kids on the left & giggly Koreans on the right.

Mom was a Good Mom and took the kids to the party of the kid from the family that we really do love and cherish. But Mom is an Introverted Mom, and she'd spent the whole day interacting with other Moms, and I suspect the Chuckie-Cheese-Hell-like environment of the arcade/tubetown birthday party place was a bit much for her. So she got home, went to The Good Mommy Couch, and melted. We let mommy melt and were happy to have her back this morning :).

Today, we recover. We were going to watch the big nasty storm that was supposed -- at one time -- to drop 6-12 inches of April snow on us. But either it died somewhere West of us or it took a detour to the North. Either way, it's providing no entertainment value at all. AK has just proposed a library trip, followed by a quiet reading afternoon. I am down.

Enjoy your weekend!