Her First Ballet

we took B to see her first ballet, The Nutcracker

in her white dress looking a lot like Clara herself
see that sweet face waiting for the performance to begin

she assured me that she wasn't scared at all
but Judah, her imaginary friend, was a little worried about the mice
her grandparents surprised her by showing up from out of town to attend
I know my mother couldn't bear to miss it
amazingly I sat in the same auditorium twenty-nine years ago to watch my first ballet
I do not have a lot of childhood memories that I share with my kids
her big brother surprised us by coming along and even wearing a tie
he's seen it four times now yet sat on the edge of his seat for two hours once again
that boy does have a theatrical flair
B sat on my lap as still as she could, which wasn't very still,
and although I couldn't see her face I could tell she was entranced
I watched the back of her head for two hours
but it's such a cute little head I can't say that i minded one little bit
I've seen The Nutcracker before
how many times now...

p.s. when we got home the baby wanted to know where his "cracker" was????