A first grade play is one of the great joys in life. Today my 7 year old, Campbell, was in the Peter Rabbit play.  He was, brace yourself, Onion #2. My highlight of the play was not the adorably painted rabbit faces, the garden of 1st grade vegetables, or even the live bunny Beatrice Potter carried around. My joy came in the friendship between the 2 onions. They say onions can make you cry, and this pair of onions succeeded.

When the lights when down and start of the play was imminent, Onion #1 was overcome with anxiety. His mom and I quickly prayed his heart would be flooded with peace and that he would recover. Onion #2, who is also prone to anxiety over sounds, lights, and all things overstimulating, quietly whispered to Onion #1. We all waited with breathless anticipation. What was going to happen to the little onions in the garden patch.

The play began, and without a pause Onion #1’s tear stained eyes cleared as the corners of his mouth began to turn up. I whisper to his mom, “I think he’s smiling.” What had changed? He proceeded to sing louder and motion larger than any of the animals and vegetables on stage. As the children recited their lines, Onion #1’s mom points out that my Onion #2 is saying both sets of lines. After the play, I asked just what was whispered between the 2 onions and teacher in those crucial moments when the lights when down. Onion #2 had simply agreed to take his lines and reassured him with “That’s ok, I get scared too sometimes” . Onion #2 understood the burden of anxiety. His own life experience had taken him to a place where he could relate. He loved this friend and reacted accordingly. 

There are times as adults when we are overcome with the pressures of a situation. We need a little relief to be able to see the hope that lay ahead. We need room to recover. How thankful I am for the friends in my life who have taken just a little bit off of my plate, so that I could sing louder and motion larger in the rest of my play. May our hearts be sensitive enough to see when we can offer up that same hope to those in our garden patch.

The Wrap Party

I had to post a picture of this adorable Peter Rabbit cake. Each of the children’s names is written on the side of the cake. I will find out the name of the woman who made it as I know she makes cakes for all occasions.

My kids love any excuse to make cake pops. We made a batch by combining Key Lime cake with vanilla icing dipped in Orange colored chocolate. Peter Rabbit’s Carrot garden was complete. Here’s a picture I took at the last-minute.

To show our support of those cast as veggies in the play, we made “I love Onion” necklaces to wear during the performance!

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