By Louise Flanagan
Nativity plays were in full swing in primary schools across the county in the lead up to Christmas.
First of all, fair play to the teachers for all the hard work that goes into these performances. As my late Granda, Paddy Doherty used to say, ‘It would be like herding mice at a crossroads.’
I can’t imagine the ordeal it must be to get all those little tots positioned and coordinated for such a spectacle. It is always so endearing to hear them singing their hearts out while the teacher does exaggerated dance moves for them to follow. In my kids’ school, the performance is always well polished and they are lucky enough to have an elevated stage with a beautiful Christmas backdrop to perform on.
It’s a lovely occasion to go into the school to see their Christmas art displays too and needless to say, it means the world to the kids to see Mammy or Daddy, Granny or Granda cheering for them in the audience.
One bugbear for lots of parents though, is the sourcing of costumes for the Christmas play. On Letterkenny Babies Facebook page, we often get frantic messages from parents looking for the likes of camel costumes for the Christmas play. We even got a request from a parent looking for a teletubby costume for a Christmas play!
Recently, we received a message about this that lots of parents agreed with: “A wee hopeful notice for schools and parents. Can we please go back to simpler times where innkeepers and shepards wore towels over their heads and angel costumes were made from men’s white shirts and tinsel.
All I have heard and seen this past few weeks is people spending money on buying nativity costumes. Or perhaps schools or parents associations could buy these costumes and re-use them every year. School nativity plays are meant to be simple and beautiful, not putting parents under pressure to buy costumes. Let’s go back to the 80s and keep it sustainable. Merry Christmas everyone and enjoy the school plays.”
I couldn’t agree more. Lots of schools do have a stash of costumes that are used annually. Children might be asked to wear all black or all white base layers and their costume is provided. My youngest son was simply asked to wear a Christmas jumper for his play this year. They all looked so cute in their Christmas jumpers as they treated us to a selection of Christmas poems and songs, including a rousing rendition of Feliz Navidad.
Many other schools do art projects to create the required costumes and props, from Kings’ crowns to Angels’ wings. I think that’s a lovely idea too. A parent commented on the Letterkenny Babies post to say a group of parents from her school raided the local charity shop for suitable clobber that the children wore for their performance this year. It’ll all be kept to be reused again next year and they plan to build up their supplies over the next few years.
Last year, my son Conor was one of the Three Wise Men in his play. He peered up into the sky through an empty kitchen roll tube that was wrapped in gold paper and adorned with plastic gems. He delivered his line with great gusto; “Look at that tiny little, shiny little star!” It made me smile and that is just what the kids who perform in their school plays are: tiny little, shiny little stars!
Louise Flanagan is an admin of Letterkenny Babies Facebook page and the author of the children’s book series, Dragonterra and Dream Beasts. www.dragonterra.ie
Louise’s Parenting column features every Thursday in the Donegal News.
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