Letting go

Last night I was invited as primary president to the Activity Day Girls' talent show.  There were eleven acts.  The girls, ages 8-11 performed.  Several sang or played the piano, one girl did both at the same time.  A few demonstrated cooking skills and a few showed off artistic ability.  It was all delightful.  There was a big difference in the levels of poise and confidence the girls possessed as they performed but they all looked at their mothers for reassurance while they were at the microphone or taking their bow (which I loved).  At the end, the leader said they would now have the "Let it Go" chorus.  As many girls as wanted to could come to the front and sing the song from Frozen.  They all had big smiles on their faces; they know that song.  Because they were all there together, they were uninhibited.  They threw their heads back and sang their hearts out and I felt glad all the way to my toes.

Mark was also at the church for scouts.  He had his first ever board of review.  Adam asked Braeden to help prepare him.  Braeden told me that one of his instructions to Mark was to not try to be funny.  (I'm sure Braeden was told the same thing by Adam when he was preparing for his first board of review.)  There's a common theme with our boys and it's usually, "Don't try to be funny."

After, Mark was exuberant and he said to me, "Who has two thumbs and is a Tenderfoot Scout?  This guy!"

I had him tell me about it.  He said he wasn't at all nervous; they asked him easy questions.  One question was what to do in case of stinging nettle.  He smiled and said, "I was a little jokey."  He told them a story about a time they were hiking and one of the boys hid to try to surprise the leader but the boy ended up being surprised because he was hiding in stinging nettle.  He said they used sword ferns to rub on the stinging nettle.  Mark said, "They all laughed."  He had the same gleam in his eye Braeden gets when he makes people laugh.

Oh boy.

"So then," Mark said, "When they asked me about the buddy system, I told them why that was important.  I also said you needed to make sure you could run faster than your buddy.  They asked me why and I said, 'In case a bear is chasing you.'  Then they all laughed a lot."

So much for don't try to be funny, but sometimes you just have to go for it, I guess.

When we got home, Braeden (and his hair which takes on a life of its own when unchecked) greeted me.

"I need a haircut," he said.

"Yes, yes you do."

"Right now?"

And I said sure because he's like me and when he decides he wants a haircut, he wants a haircut.

9:00 last night found us singing along to '60s songs and cutting his hair.  (He was exposed to a bunch of '60s songs in his US history class.  He played them for me and I already knew every word because of my mom.)

Emma pointed out that Braeden's head was a lot smaller post hair cut. 

I texted Braeden at school and told him to send me a picture of his hair.  This is what I got.