Over the weekend, I was playing in the toy room with my sons when my middle guy, Jaxon, grabbed a couple of small rubber balls and pretended to juggle. It reminded me that I actually know how to juggle, which I haven’t done, or even thought about, in years. It’s a long forgotten talent that I’ve had since I taught myself in high school when I was a court jester for our madrigals group. I grabbed the balls and showed them my trick. They were mystified. Mommy can juggle? I felt like some sort of clownish superhero. Good times.
Have you ever seen the children’s phenomenon Yo Gabba Gabba? There’s a segment in every episode where a child or adult shows his or her “cool trick”. They’ve showcased everything from being able to stack cups at lightning speeds to acting like a robot. My kids love that part and my husband and I never know when our kids are going to bust out a “cool trick” of their own. “Mom! Look at my cool trick! I can balance a carrot stick on the back of my hand!”
Between the impromptu juggling exhibition and my kids’ random cool tricks, I got to thinking, everyone has talents, whether they’re big or small. Why not put on a little family talent show?
I told my kids to practice one of their best cool tricks and we’d take turns showing off our talents. Then when we’d all had time to prepare, we’d tape each person performing their talents and watch the video together when we’re done. The funny thing was, the ones who were most nervous were my husband and I, because we outgrew our natural zest for hamming it up in front of a camera.
When it was time to perform our acts, my eldest wanted to go first. His special talent was to build blocks taller than he was. Everyone watched in amazement as the blocks went up and cheered when his masterpiece was complete. My middle guy demonstrated how “superfast” he could run as he zipped around my kitchen table like a lightning bolt — and the crowd went wild. My youngest, who’s all of 2 1/2 years old, sang a Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star – Jingle Bells medley that rocked the house. The hubz pulled out some long-forgotten basketball skills that wowed the crowd. And, I, last but not least, showed my men how I could blow a giant bubble with some trusty Hubba Bubba. You’d have thought I built a 200-story skyscraper; they were so thrilled.
After we finished, I popped up some popcorn, and we sat around the TV to watch our family talent show. It was as much fun to view our little video keepsake as it was to actually perform our cool tricks together. We all had a wonderful time and now we have a special video that we can share for generations to come.
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