Pig and Chicken Show

Yesterday, as a ploy to delay bedtime, the kids decided to get a puppet show together for Daddy. Carmella hatched this mastermind plan during dinner.

Ryan has been getting home late all week so the kids haven't seen him since Sunday. He leaves for work at 6 am and doesn't come home until after 7:30. Bedtime is at 7:30-- often earlier, if I can make it happen. At any rate I am pretty firm about 7:30 because I am done by that point. I have found that no good ever comes out of them staying up later. Sure it all seems fun and like a great idea at the time. And it is fun until the next day when meltdowns and whining prevails. Just not worth it for me. So 7:30 is bedtime.


After dinner I could hear them upstairs "rehearsing." Actually, what I heard was Carmella talking and telling Beau what to do and Beau ignoring her and playing with his trucks. This is typically what happens when Carmella wants to put on a show. She has all these ideas but no one, especially Beau, likes to be told what to do. Everyone has their own ideas. The show inevitably is total bedlam. Then Carmella gets upset--the show is a failure, her artistic vision unrealized. I think this isn't necessarily a bad thing. If nothing else, at least she isn't being set up for life long disappointment in the arts. She is learning early on that artistic endeavors rarely work out how you want them to. Better for her to learn this now than say in grad school or when you are trying to make a living at it.

At 7pm I told them that Daddy would be late again and to start getting ready for bed--they would just have to save the puppet show for another night. My plan yesterday was bedtime 7:15, glass of wine 7:16. And I was well on my way to having that.

Unfortunately for me at 10 past 7 the kids heard the garage door roll open. Scurrying feet and squealing abound the puppet show was on.

Curses, foiled again!

Carmella herded us into the living room.
She first read to us a little story: This Little Piggy.
Then she and Beau climbed behind the sette and the puppet show began. Basically it was an off shoot of This Little Piggy. It was about the Pig who went to market to shop for the chicken who stayed home and said "Bawk!"
Pig went to the market and bought fruit and rope meat.Then Pig brought her purchases home to Chicken.
Chicken was not happy with the crappy food. He revolted-- as cocks will do-- and screamed "Bawk!" Chicken then pecked the heck out of Pig.
The End.

Good show.
Then for an encore Carmella read a book to us and Beau ran around the room screaming "Bawk!"

He then pecked the audience.