Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Nutcracker Princess

Years ago my friend Tammy and her mom took me to see The Nutcracker Ballet.  I had never been to the ballet before and I knew absolutely nothing about The Nutcracker.  I loved every minute of it and hoped to take my kids to see it some day.  When my mother-in-law, Patti, asked what our kids wanted for Christmas I told her that Chloe wanted tickets to The Nutcracker.  (She just didn't know she wanted them.) 


As much as I enjoyed going to see the ballet myself, I must admit that I had absolutely no idea what was going on in the story.  (Probably because the story is super crazytown.)  I wanted to be sure Chloe (and I) knew what was going on this time, so I borrowed the book and the music from the library and we've been listening to it all month.  She even sat through an uber-creepy 1983 stage version available on Netflix.  We were both SO EXCITED about our big Mother/Daughter Day. 

This morning I sat down and mapped out exactly where the theater was and how long it would take to get there and where we would need to park.  We got dressed up (Chloe chose to wear her Rapunzel dress) and headed downtown.  Bad news: the theater was not downtown.  I called Jeff in tears and when he told me I was nowhere near the theater, I cried some more.  We made it to the ballet just in time for intermission.

The good news was that the second act is where all the fun stuff is, so we didn't miss our favorite parts.  Patti and Pops got us some primo seats.  We could see pit stains and rib cages galore.  It was awesome!  Chloe was on the edge of her seat the whole time.  I may have shed a few more tears.


After the show, she got to meet Clara and the Nutcracker Prince.  They were so sweet to her and this is her new favorite picture of all time.

We found a special nutcracker to take home and put on the tree so we can remember this special day.


Here's what I will remember about this day: My daughter is an angel.  I saw a lot of bratty little girls today who had no idea that going to the ballet was a special treat.  On her worst day, Chloe would never talk back to me.  (She would cry a river of tears, but not talk back.)  Chloe never complained once about missing the first act and even reassured me that we would still get to see her favorite parts.  She was kind and sweet and gracious.  This is nothing new, but sometimes it takes spending an afternoon with her to be reminded that she is good and true.

7 Wisecracks:

Heather McKeon said...

Lovely! Can't wait to take my girls (when I have them) to see this. I did share the super creepy version on Netflix with my niece Abby when I babysat her last week. But she's only 2 so she loved it and spent the rest of the time asking for more 'Christmas dancing.' On a hilarious note, when the Rat King is coming after Clara he holds his hands out and wiggles his fingers so Abby kept laughing and squealing "he's gonna tickle you!" That made it so much more fun. And slightly less creepy. Anyway Merry Christmas!

Elise said...

Megan and I are going to the Nutcracker tonight. I am so excited!

Tammy and Alvin said...

More tears - You had me crying by the end of your post. So glad it was a special experience. That is awesome that she got to meet the nutcracker and the Clara! Great pic! So sorry about the first half. I have a hard time getting over tragedies like that.

KQ said...

That is so cool! I'm glad you made it there, and that it was so awesome!

Mom said...

Your daughter is definitely an angel! What a special outing - so glad you made it. Which nutcracker did you get?

melissa said...

I added a picture just for you, Mom.

The Reiersens said...

That is the sweetest mommy-daughter date ever...and Chloe's dress is fabulous!