I have a rehearsal this morning. Next month I am going to be singing the full Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, of which did I did a portion last November, and it requires some serious rehearsal. This is not a piece for the casual Tenor Dad. And since Edward’s preschool ended last week, and I had forgotten about this until mid-last week, I have several rehearsals scheduled for mornings this week that I was just going to bring him to. And this cannot happen.
The place I am going to today is the house of the conductor. The conductor is not young. His children are grown and have houses of their own. Therefore, their private residence is full of Edward-eye-level objects designed to shatter when they sense preschoolers approaching. And yet I was going to bring him anyway. What choice did I have?
Yesterday I had to bring him to some meetings at church. And do you know what? He was actually pretty good. I gave him my phone to watch train videos on ( not “Drops of Jupiter” Train, actual trains just driving on train tracks), and he mostly stayed quiet in the other room. And yet, by the end of my second meeting, the pastor’s office was pretty much completely covered in popcorn, the furniture was rearranged, and 90% of the tissues and hand sanitizer had been used. When the meeting was over, I was left vacuuming the office while Edward attempted to throw more things on the ground so I could vacuum them up. Things like crumbs, fuzz, and one-of-a-kind pottery.
After this meeting, it was quite clear to me that, no matter how “good” he was, I could not bring a 4-year-old to my rehearsal. This was not the Britten Serenade for Tenor Dad, Horn, and Strings. The Dad part needed to take a break. So thank heaven for small miracles and youth pastors stuck at church all week trying to plan Vacation Bible School. Thanks for agreeing to let him sit on a couch in your office quietly and watch a movie this morning, which I am sure is exactly what he is going to do, and no more. I’ll be back to pick him up in about an hour. With the vacuum cleaner.