A new Christmas tradition 

I looked laughable at best, wearing an ill-fitting coat and pants hemmed half an inch too high with legs double the necessary width. The shirt wasn’t too bad, but the vest was baggy and failed to stay secured. One wrong move and it was flapping around my waist like a backwards cape.

The ensemble, despite the efforts of dedicated people trying to fit me the best they could with supplies from a costume rack, was supposed to make me look like a sophisticated party goer for the opening scenes of Theatre Dublin’s annual production of The Nutcracker. Instead, as I went through the routine during a dress rehearsal just days before the debut, I looked like the wandering tramp portrayed by Charlie Chaplain in so many movies. 

I was only missing a bowler hat and bamboo cane. 

“How did I get myself in this mess,” I thought as I looked down at the vest, once again hanging loose on my torso. I swear I could hear the pant legs flapping around like sails in the breeze. 

My daughter Lily. That’s how I found myself in a volunteer role as a “party parent.” One of her friends had performed in The Nutcracker the year before, so when this year’s production was announced she jumped at the opportunity. During the auditions my wife sent me a message, they need volunteers. It is community theater; it takes the community. Eager to support my daughter and my hometown I agreed. A few days later I was handed a practice schedule. 

“Curse me being a good parent,” I thought while listening to my pants swish through the air and trying to think of a last-minute way out. Nothing came to mind. 

At home that night I frantically searched through my wardrobe. I had to have a suit, pushed to the back and forgotten about. I did. I tried it on, and it still fit like a glove. My luck continued, I found a vest with a blue stripe (I was the patriarch of a blue clad family) and a white puffy sleeved shirt purchased for a costume party where I went as the late singer and guitar great Prince. 

Add the blue ascot from the wardrobe department, and quite frankly I looked fantastic. 

But this story isn’t about me and my narcissistic tendencies. It’s about my little girl, who had two dances to learn herself for the second act, and all the other young people and volunteers who came together to carry out an annual tradition. 

I’m a big fan of ballet. An evening at the theater rivals an afternoon at the ballpark any day, but to be honest the local Nutcracker wasn’t on my radar, even though it’s been around for 19 years. To finally see the work that goes into the production and witness the final product is nothing more than inspiring. To be able to share in my daughter’s passion for dance made the experience even better. 

One of her roles was a little sheep in a flock following Little Bo Peep. In the scene a black sheep disobeys instruction and causes mischief. Lily’s already gunning for the role of the black sheep, so it sounds like we’re going to have a new Christmas tradition.

It’s a good thing I found that black suit.    

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