May 7, 2001
DOWN HOME:
Dads benefit from low expectations, bony legs
___We survived. Doug, George, Jim, Mark and I lasted three big performances of the Lewisville High School Farmerettes' Spring Show.
___The Farmerettes are the LHS drill team. They're known for their routines at footballgames, but they also recently traveled to Florida for a national competition and arrived home with a tubload of awards.
MARV KNOX
Editor
___Spring Show is their end-of-year extravaganza. Kind of a cross between a dance recital and a variety show. They allow outside performances to provide time for the girls' costume changes. I told you about that last week.
___George got the idea for a Farmerette dads' high-kick routine. And since we love our daughters more than our reputations as sane citizens, the rest of us stepped into line.
___The days leading up to the actual performances were hectic and tension-filled. Over and over, we listened to our music, "It's Raining Men," in our automobiles. We met after work for rehearsal. We wondered if we ever could show our faces in public again.
___We knew we were taking things a little too seriously when we began to fret over little details--like the height of our kicks, the timing of our movements and being able to walk the next day.
___The girls knew it, too. One night at dinner, I said something like, "I think we can get the 'Happy Hands' routine down if we'll just count the rhythms." Lindsay rolled her eyes, wordlessly reminding me: "Don't get too wrapped up in this. We're the entertainment. You're the amusement."
___The other dads got that treatment, too. But we continued to work. By showtime, we even could kick higher than our waists. Most of the time.
___Dressed in faux-Farmerette costumes, we were resplendent. The crowd went wild each time we marched onstage. And after two out of three performances, they shot out of their seats in standing ovations.
___I suspect this bugged the girls some. After all, they aimed for perfection through months of practice. And then the dads whipped up a routine in two weeks and whipped the crowd into a frenzy at the sight of bony legs and none-too-graceful semi-high kicks.
___The difference is simple.
___Everybody expects high standards out of them, because they're capable. Their grand finale--a sustained blast of high kicks fast enough and high enough to make a Rockette blush-- was a beauty to behold. (And they did get their standing ovations.)
___The old guys were different. We benefitted from low expectations and the delirium of seeing dads dressed like their daughters. People put this in context and recognized we did it for love, not art. And they clapped and whistled and stomped and hooted.
___That's sort of a metaphor for how church should be--fully recognizing each other's shortcomings, but quick to dispense warmth, affirmation, approval. And a few wolf whistles, too.
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