Princess Ella and I are very similar – apart from the fact I have great hair. We bond over singing, dancing, drawing, music, craft and preening my great hair.
Only yesterday we spent the afternoon making special letters for each of the kids at childcare she won’t see again after this week. Tomorrow marks the last day of childcare before she graduates to “big girl school’’.
However, there’s one little thing that is fast becoming “our special bonding moment’’. The one hour-long block that is just for us to talk about the things that connect us most. It’s Young Talent Time and the singing and dancing.
Ella is a 7pm to bed person, but on Sundays I’ve been allowing her to stay up until 7.30pm. We talk about what performances we liked best, who we thought should have won, how good (or bad) the singing was and why the dancing worked (or didn’t). I try to encourage her to look at the negatives of a performance constructively – rather than just “that was terrible, Mum’’.
It’s also been a chance to share some of my (limited) singing and dancing knowledge from years of lessons. Like when the rock guitarist performed on Sunday, I was trying to explain to her about “stage presence’’. “But where are the presents, Mum?’’ Failed on that one.
Then, when we were marvelling at the YTT team’s performance of Beyonce’s Halo, her only reaction at the end was: “The sky is green? And the ground is blue? What? That’s like Upsey Down Town, Mum. That’s silly.’’ Upsey Down Town being a popular Play School song.
The last was again during the rock guitar performance, where host Rob Mills introduces her performance by saying “she’ll rock your socks off’’. Ella’s response: “But where is she going to put them?’’ After a long and detailed explanation of what “rock your socks off’’ means, she asked: “Can I rock my socks off with my recorder?’’ Eat your heart, darling.
What’s your special bonding moment with your children?
I think stage presents are a great idea!
Amen to that! 🙂
I am all for stage presents. I love this age and all the things they pick up on. We let Ellie watch, too, and this week all she could talk about was how it was fun to sing and dance but she just wants to be a Mummy when she grows up.
And your hair IS great, much jealousness here!
Ella desperately wants to get up on stage and sing in front of an audience. She’s been rehearsing with her little CD player (Fisher Price one!). It’s so very cute.
How adorable that Ellie just wants to be a mummy when she grows up. Beautiful!
And yes, being a tad sarcastic on the hair thing! LOL! 😉
Maybe you can answer this.. I like YTT and the singing.. but I don’t get why there is a YTT team.. singing.. already ‘in’.. who picked them? Why are they there? And what happens at the ‘Grand Final’? I am very confused!!
You have lovely hair.. and a gorgeous daughter!! And I love the view from your backgarden!
MissC and I started swimming lessons today.. it was nice to watch her enjoy splashing and kicking her legs!
Hi Yvette,
Harking back to the old days of the show, the new YTT team were sourced from a national search. They are there to keep some consistency to the show each week and to allow the audience to get to know them. I’m not sure if it still happens but there used to the YTT school too. Once the kids turned 18 (?) they can’t be on the show anymore and get replaced with new members.
The competition is aimed at mixing it up a bit. I guess so we don’t get bored seeing the same faces each week. But also to try and discover and then foster new talent.
I can see why it’s a bit confusing though!! No one on the show has properly explained the “why”.
Thanks for the kind comments too. I was being a little sarcastic about my hair! Hehe!! 😉
Our girls love swimming too. We’ve spent the past three weeks between the beach and the pool. We really need to get them into some swimming lessons though. Good on you for getting Miss C into lessons though.
x
Oh how cute it must be to have that connection – I used to watch YTT when I was growing up…I wonder if its like it used to be?
Funny how they take things “Literally”!! Like when I say “Sit up at the Table for dinner”..I usually get “But Mum our plates sit on the table” !
Wish they stayed cute forever. Maybe she will have your singing talent, and she will be on stage soon 🙂
Cheers
Lisa
The concept is very much the same, Lisa, but it’s FAR more polished than it used to be. Hard not to be in this day and age, I guess.
Teehee! Laughing at the “sit up at the table for dinner”. As we were having a drink, my mum told my sister and I to put our glasses in the dishwasher when we were kids. I took my reading glasses off and put in the dishwasher!
🙂
Wish I’d been given stage presents. That’s a lovely bonding routine to have.
Ella gets so excited on a Sunday waiting for the show to come on. Then 10 minutes beforehand, we snuggle up on the couch together. It really is lovely.
You really do have great hair!!
Love these little bonding moments, although right at this moment, I am struggling to think of one!
Aww, thannks!
We’re having lots of fun watching it together. Although, it’s hard to concentrate when she comes out with the questions that she does.
When my eldest son was about 17 (and barely talking to me) I used to sit and watch Family Guy with him late on a Thursday night. I wasn’t fussed on the show at all, although would giggle from time to time, but I relished the opportunity to spend a half hour with my big boy at a time when our relationship was otherwise strained.
He must have liked it to because each week he would show up in the family room and turn the TV on ready for it to start! I will always cherish that time with him.
Oh, that brought a tear to my eye. Such a small thing, but so very important.
I know TV gets a bad rap, but it really is a way to bring people together. It’s a great conversation starter, a way to find things in common and a chance for families to all sit down together and be in the same “space”.
x
There really is nothing quite like explaining the story of Frankenstein to a 5yo!
LOL! Ah yes. They do like to keep us on our toes!