Climber-cchino the second

Nell's handmade Arlecchino costume had its second airing at the Carnevale parade at school this morning.

If you look closely at Climber's feet you might see he is wearing his tap shoes. This is because when they were sending out all the newsletter stuff about dressing up for Carnevale they mentioned that there would also be a lunchtime 'open-stage' performance. Which gave me the bright idea of asking Climber and an older boy from his school - who is also one of my tap students - if they wanted to put together a little tap-dance for it. The two of them are pretty good when they work together in my classes and they seemed keen. So they signed up, and we worked out and rehearsed a short routine. This morning when we spoke to the Italian teacher she said the lunchtime thing was cancelled due to lack of takers so instead the interested performers would do their stuff at the morning parade. Then the older boy who'd been progressively more skittery about the whole thing (yes, no, I will, I won't) said he wasn't going to do it and wouldn't put his tap shoes on. He was convinced his friends would laugh at him if he did it - he has a much higher level of peer awareness than my Climber-bunny. He hadn't even dressed up for the parade, such was his anxiety about public embarrassment.

So I went out with Climber instead. (And just for the record I was NOT a Razzle-Dazzle Mum about it. In case you were wondering. I was Moral Support Mum. Swear.)

Anyway, you should have heard the cheers and clapping for Climber when we finished. Awesome.

Arlecchino

Or : why my child has a beautiful, hand-crafted costume for Carnevale despite having non-sewing non-crafting parents:

Yes. Nell.

What a legend. After discussions with the Climber, she researched Arlecchino via the internet, found a pattern, then went out and bought the materials. She (painstakingly) painted the fabric, sewed the costume, lent him her hat and gave him a mask to paint. She even took the morning off work so that she could see him in his glory. He was much admired. And so pleased and proud.

Climber chose Arlecchino when many 6-year-olds might have been expected to go with a Superhero or Star Wars theme. He loves the Italian classes at school and can often be heard singing the 'theme' song for what he calls Carnevahnay, which appears to consist of the words Oh Oh Carnevale [repeat x 2], Ah Ah Arlecchino [repeat x 2], sung over and over and over with appropriate mispronunciations.

And what part did his slacker mother play in all this? Actually, I did the pants. As in, I went op-shopping. I also painted the pants; those of you with an eye for detail may notice the inferior job I made of this compared to Nell's sharp edges and clean lines. And the fact that they are not painted all the way to the waistband is due to the paint running out and not because I'm lazy. Well alright, I did make the cavalier prediction that they were probably high enough (the top wasn't completed till 11pm the night before so there was no way of checking) but there was definitely a paint shortage too.

So at school this morning, they had a special sfilata (parade) and EVERYONE including teachers dressed up. Climber's teacher was quite impressive as Batman. I'm thinking the kids would have been behaving well in class today. When he returned after the teachers' lap of honour, the kids could be heard singing nananananananana FATMAN! at him, which he took in good part; asserting he was merely plump.

And the end of the story? This afternoon, Cherub, arrayed resplendently as a non-specific Incredible, and I went to pick Climber up at the earlier time of 2.30 (last day of term) and almost failed to recognise him because he was no longer Arlecchino. There was only a blonde boy in borrowed clothes, a bag full of wet costume and a note.

Dear Parent,

Today your child received first aid attention. He fell over in a puddle and grazed his hip. Your child was given a change of clothes and had his wound cleaned and dressed.

Signed The First Aid Officer.

The grazed hip looks fine. The costume?

Well, we're hoping it will wash successfully.