The Natives

Once again, last night was the night to babysit for small groups and choir at church. Part of our evening schedule is to let the kids run amuck in the large, open hall to get their wiggles out. More than once, I had to chase members of the herd and corral them back into the section of hall where we adults could keep an eye on them.

Usually, Sarah G. brings her fiddle to play for the children to dance to, but last night she actually forgot. Thankfully, I brought my bodhran. We played a game I dubbed "freeze dance" -- an excellent way for the wiggles to be worked out. I would play on my drum while the children danced around like wild tribespeople. It looked like a scene from some National Geographic special -- wild natives dancing in a circle to a crazy drum beat.

Mom came out amidst the wild screams and drum beats to chastize the wild behavior.

"Keep the volume down. There's a parenting class upstairs and they're going to wonder what's going on."

I looked around at my tribespeople -- their war paint expertly applied to their faces with Crayola marker. "Okay, everybody, we're going to play the quiet dancing game." More wild dancing ensued -- now it just looked like a National Geographic special on mute.