Sunday was our ward's primary presentation. Last year I was deeply involved in our branch primary presentation. (Seriously, if you need a good laugh, click that link.) I wondered if the craziness of that presentation was normal.
I am here to report that it is not. This year I was again involved in the presentation, although this time it was as a teacher, so I just kept kids in line. There are a lot more kids in this primary (about 100 each week), so there was plenty of crowd control needed. But no one was asked not to participate. There was not almost a wrestling match between an adult and a 10 year old about appropriate Sunday behavior.
Because of the numbers though, my sweet 3 year old did not get a speaking part (none of the Sunbeams did). Given her level of participation last year, this just did not make sense to her. At the first practice, this was just painful. She would pop up after every kid and ask, "Is it my turn?"
But in yet another example of the tender mercies of the Lord, she was asked to give the scripture/spiritual thought the week of the second practice. So, she got to memorize a scripture (James 1:5), say it in a microphone to the entire primary, and say the prayer (which was not her scripted prayer, yay!).
The Sunbeams did have a special musical number, in which, by all reports, Kiddo held the Sunbeams together, because she sang loudly, clearly, and knew all the words. And she was just as active in singing all the other songs. Many parents pointed this out to me afterwards.
Her real moment to shine though came after, when she went to primary. One of our friends reported to me that while most of the leaders were still in the chapel, cleaning up, Kiddo saw her opportunity. She went straight to the podium, and welcomed all the children to primary, and remembered to tell them what a great job they had done in the presentation.
