Leading by example

On taking junior to school this morning I was rather surprised to find no-one there! On questioning junior she said that the teacher had mentioned something about a celebration but that she hadn’t really heard it properly. As I’d been up since 7.00 and the thought of the lie-in I could have had floated through my mind, I wasn’t really in the best of moods. I texted one of the other mums and then we went into town to visit the bank and the post office before heading back home. Fortunately, just before we left town, I got a phone call telling me school was starting at 9.00 but only so we could go and watch a performance to celebrate Ochi Day, which is tomorrow.
Obviously junior wasn’t performing in this show, none of the younger children were, but we still sat and watched it even though it was hardly enthralling with just recitation after recitation. However, the point is we sat and watched it in silence, clapping at the appropriate points and appreciating how hard it is for some children to stand up there in front of people and perform. Unfortunately the behaviour of other people left a lot to be desired. Understandably, some of the smaller children were bored but adults have no excuse for talking throughout the performance. I don’t care if it’s not your child up on stage, show some respect. How can you expect your child to sit quietly and politely if you can’t even lead by example. If that had been junior up on stage and people had been talking in front of me, I don’t think I would have been able to stop myself from hitting them! On a par with this behaviour were the people who, once their child had done their bit on stage, got up and left! Amazing!
I didn’t understand most of what was being said but I knew that the last thing you want when you’re stood up on a stage in front of people, feeling nervous and apprehensive, is the sight of people not even looking at you and just chatting away regardless.