Getting Ready for the Season

This morning, J practically danced out of the house and on her way to school. Why was she so excited? It was that smidgen of snow, the twinkle’s worth of frost. Winter is coming, and she’s vibrating with enthusiasm.  It’s funny: when kids are teensy, they don’t even remember the seasons. Every year, snow is a startling new discovery, the sizzling-hot summer pavement surprises them. We grown-ups sniff the air or watch the stores stockpiling shovels and shake our heads ruefully, knowing that winter is unavoidable. But J’s in that sweet spot. She forgets how inconvenient it is to peel off snow clothes on the way to the bathroom, that February winter-will-never-end feeling is a faraway memory. I think that the anticipation is heightened because we happen to be reading The Long Winter, in which Pa and Laura observe the muskrats and the birds and all sorts of other hints that their winter will be bad, so that it begins to feel like a scary movie in which the monster is Winter. I think it’s made J hyper-aware of the natural changes, even as she appreciates that, unlike De Smet, our town is practically overrun with supermarkets. No: as far as she can recall, winter has no drawbacks. It’s   a shiny destination packed with Christmas and skiing and snow days, and she can’t wait to get there. Her mother, on the other hands, has barely adjusted to autumn.

In fact, when I started to do a bit of blog maintenance, I realized that I’d accidentally trashed my Embrace Winter page, so I’ll have to put that back together. For now I’m coasting on apple orchards and a link to holiday stuff, although I have updated my events page.

Speaking of which, I’m a bit sad that I don’t have a link to my latest WNYT appearance [Update: here it is!], because I liked the theme particularly: great stories make great children’s theater. So I’m just going to give you a little repeat-plug here. I wrote an article about taking children to the theater, and experts recommend that you take little kids to shows that are stories that they already know. They’ll get excited about it, and it’s easier for them to follow the plot. And there are several different “great stories make great theater” opportunities coming up, including:

Jack, The Beanstalk, and Friends at Steamer No. 10 Theatre this weekend. It’s a slapstick comedy adventure in which Jack encounters some of your favorite nursery rhyme characters, and Steamer 10 is a great “starter theater.”

This Saturday,  Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse at The Egg is showing at at The Egg (Nelson Rockefeller Center for the Performing Arts) at 11 am. It’s a production by Omaha Theatre, and this is one of our favorites at our house. I’m a huge Kevin Henkes fan. One adult admitted free per child.

On Sunday at 3 pm, Pinkalicious the Musical is at the Palace Theatre. What’s more fun than a story kids love? Throw in some songs!

The Secret Garden opens at Capital Repertory Theatre on Friday the 21st. This is a Tony-Award winning musical that’s continuing deep into December, so it could be a great family outing.

And next Saturday, November 22nd, you can walk watch Peter & The Wolf An Urban Tale at The Egg  at 11 am. Choreographer Cartier Williams (who’s performed with Savion Glover) and his company of tap, ballet, hip-hop and modern dancers bring the famous cast of characters to New York City in the 21st century as they re-imagine this classic tale. This one’s a great deal: $10 for a child’s ticket, and each child can bring an adult for free.