Today at the Nursing Home

Today, Selah, Yemi, Grandma, Grandad, and I went to the nursing home. It was very fun and super funny. I set up my guitar and music, while Grandma was holding Yemi (who was screaming bloody murder of course), and Selah was out mingling with the residents, pretending with little giggles that she could understand what they were saying. Grandma had worn her Christmas sweater and everything, but she had to miss the concert...Yemi HAD to be escorted away. There were people visibly in pain from her screaming. I was one of them.

So, I get to singing some fun Christmas songs, and there is no microphone or anything. I'm singing as loud as I can, and one woman yells out, "Can anyone hear her?" and no one replies. Grandad rolls this woman's wheelchair so close to me that, literally, her shoe gets stuck under my music stand. In the middle of "What Child is This?", right as she was coughing really hard (on me), I had to stop the song and free her foot. Also, about 10 steps away from us, the 25 second long, as loud as Yemi (or the tornado siren, whatever) buzzer went off when any one in the hallway walked out the door. There were a lot of men working on the plumbing, electricity, etc. today. A lot. They liked that particular exit. They never learned how to punch in the code. I could have said or sang anything for those 25 seconds, as I was bleeped out so nicely!

We ended up doing "Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)" three times, because more people kept coming in wanting to know if Selah was going to sing. Although she did a nice job singing, Selah (4 1/2 years old) is banned from future small concerts, because she kept interrupting me in the middle of songs! One time, she went over to a sweet lady in her wheelchair and they started having this loud conversation. All I could hear was "What's your name, little girl?" at least 7x in a row, and Selah kept saying, "What? I don't understand you." It was like, let's get this woman to stop singing so we can talk. (Hmm...I've felt that way before, too. Totally understandable.) Then, during "The Light of God" after I had asked Selah to sit next to me quietly, she interrupted me to say, "Mom, this is boring. Can I play the piano?" Needless to say, there was no McDonald's lunch reward this afternoon.

Anyway, these are funny things, but it really was a good time! I gave somebody an excellent nap, and my friend Mr. Cofer could hear every word and truly enjoyed it. We all sang nice and loud for Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Silent Night, and everyone said it got them in the Christmas mood. And lastly, when our hour was up, Selah went around saying to everyone, "I hope you really enjoyed my mommy's songs. Don't you just think she is the best? Didn't you love her songs?? I hope you liked us."

Very memorable singing day. I'll do it again soon. :)