Pickle in the Tannenbaum

It seems like every Children's Christmas Program in our family has a good story behind it.  Remember the one year that Luke told us that he was starring as Joseph in his preschool program, but was actually the donkey?  Well, when we found out recently that the 2nd graders at Oak Ridge Elementary were going to perform "Holidays Around the World" in mid-December, we were excited.  Parents received an e-mail from the music teacher a few weeks ago with a list of classes with their corresponding country/holiday.  There was one sentence in the e-mail which stated, "Please see the chart below to determine what costume your child should wear."   Luke's class was listed as "Germany/Pickle in the Tannenbaum".  There was some social media chatter among the other moms in Luke's class:

"Should we dress the children as pickles?"  

"As Christmas trees?  

"Should they wear all green?"

"How about lederhosen...Wouldn't THAT be something?" (chuckling to ourselves)   

"Maybe a beer stein in hand...?  Just kidding, of course..."    

I made it a point to ask Luke's teacher for clarification, but he seemed equally clueless.  And then, recently, another parent told me that she cornered the music teacher, and that the teacher's response was, "Oh, YES, lederhosen, peasant shirts, ALL of that!!"

This parent was kind/brave enough to inform the music teacher that most of us were pretty clueless about costume expectations, and the wonderful teacher sent out a very specific, detailed list (with pictures) for costume inspiration, which magically appeared in our e-mail inboxes the next morning (exactly one week before the program).  Here's a look:

So, I (along with every other stay at home mom in Oak Ridge) spent that entire morning running around Greensboro searching for Alpine hats, German attire, and anything that would be considered acceptable to be worn by a seven year-old boy that would not be categorized as "dorky" or "tights". 

3 hours later, I texted Mark:  "I have white nylon soccer socks, suspenders, and a pink Hello Kitty fedora that I magically plan to spray paint/stick a feather in it..."

I will omit the part of the story where I stood in a store, and, in a moment of desperation, basically pleaded with a cashier (a perfect stranger, mind you) to sell me the Bavarian hat that she mentioned that her son wore as a costume when he was younger (and that she still stored in a hat box in her closet at home).  Luckily she laughed off my request, and I left with some of my pride intact (but no hat).  

Poor Luke came home from school and I bribed him with extra IPad time if he would try on my ensemble:

This poor kid...

Ready to go yodeling!

I felt relatively pleased with the outcome, and then one day before the performance, Luke came down with a fever.  I told someone, "If he isn't able to go to school and be a Pickle in the Tannenbaum, I may cry..."

First World Problems, I know. 

But luckily, our little German boy was better by Thursday, and the musical went off without a hitch.  And yes, there were giant pickles that were paraded across the stage:

That's part of our "German" class posed next to the "Hanukkah" class, who were instructed to wear their "blue and silver" Sunday best.  Not pictured are the "Kwanza" student body, who were able to don anything red, green, yellow, OR black.  Some people get all the breaks!  (There was one boy wearing authentic German lederhosen, and it was quite an impressive get up.  I wonder how many IPad minutes his Mom had to use as a bribe...

Luke and Aiden: Best buddies.

The program was very cute, and the song "Pickle in the Tannenbaum" is actually quite a catchy little tune (that we've had stuck in our heads ever since...).  The kids had fun, and we enjoyed watching Luke, who was happy and not at all concerned about his costume once he saw that he was "twins" with his best friend, Aiden.  (Meanwhile, Aiden's mom and I did lots of behind the scenes coordinating...).   The pink Hello Kitty hat didn't make the cut, but that's probably for the best, and we loved the comic diversion that "Pickle in a Tannenbaum" provided this holiday season.  

As they say in Germany:  "Frohliche Weihnachten!"   

                                    ("Merry Christmas!")