When the flyer came home for the school talent show, I knew she would want to do it. I suggested a duet with her Dad and she agreed. Somewhere along the way Rocky got added in too. But then her ideas started to grow...and grow...and before I knew it I was asking a Vietnamese tailor - who spoke very little english - to cut a dress completley in half, and ordering confetti cannons on Amazon.
As I moused over "add to cart" and clicked, I was fairly certain I'd be the only parent bringing confetti cannons to the school talent show and I was okay with that.
A little much? Yes. Over the top? Yes.
But I make no apologies for my parenting, or encouraging her shenanigans.
Look, truth be told, she asked for fireworks, people. I talked her down to confetti. And I only talked her down to confetti because pyrotechnics are a fire hazard. If I thought the fire marshall would have allowed it I would have lit up that gym like the 4th of July...but I digress.
Kids are born with wings to fly, just like the birds in the sky, and the last person who is going to clip her little wings will be me.
You should have seen her eyes light up as she brainstormed the songs she wanted to use, practiced her choreography in the mirror, and kicked in her own money from the family garage sale to buy the dress. Sometimes I have to remind myself she is only 7 years old, because she has more ambition than half the grown ups I know.
This is the same kid that asked for her own rap video for her birthday last summer, and if I could make that happen with my white, non-rapping family members I was pretty sure I could help her pull this off.
There are 2 things you should know before you watch the video.
1. Her microphone stopped working halfway into her song...I know it's nature to want to squirm for her, but I promise she had it handled the whole time. Luci is a pro and it takes much more than microphone malfunction to throw her off.
2. The video is terrible. You can't even see Rocky, who plays both the snare drum AND saxophone plus acted as her hype-man. So you'll have to just listen for him because he is very talented. You can't see my husband do his outfit change alongside her, which I heard included a hairy belly flash to the audience. You also can't see the 12 other streamer cannons that went off at the end. I tried to hire someone to film this for me and it didn't work out. The lenses I have for shooting weddings (primes) are not conducive to shooting stuff with my kids and I'm making changes to that as we speak. I feel terrible that I didn't do a better job for her, but without further ado, here is my girl:
She was absolutely adorable. All the kids were adorable. The courage those kiddos had up on stage was nothing short of amazing. I smiled and cheered through every act. Even the teachers got in on the action with a funny skit; it was probably my favorite night of the entire school year.
She ended up winning 2nd place. Her prize was $10 cash and a huge bag of M&M's, she also earned herself a pitstop at Dairy Queen on the way home to get a cookie dough blizzard with extra cookie dough.
Last year she signed with a talent agency. She is learning so much, not just about the commercial and print world, but about life. For every job she books there are at least 6 or 7 she was turned down for, but she never lets it get her down, she just keeps going.
Beautiful headshots by Elizabeth Wiseman
Part of me wants her to stay little forever, and part of me can't wait to see the fun things God has up His sleeve for her. Sometimes I swear the sun gets a little brighter anywhere she is, or maybe that's just because she's mine.
