DeeJay Jazzy Jen

My brother recently gave me a rapper nickname: J-Hoisy. I wasn't too sure how I felt about it until I remembered my weekend DeeJay gig. I like the idea, but feel that perhaps I should go with DeeJay Jazzy Jen.

Our Primary Sacrament Meeting Program is in exactly four weeks. Will we be prepared? It's hard to say, but, the important thing to remember here is that it will be over. You may ask Gee Jen, I thought you were in the Primary Presidency, why are you overly concerned about the music? to which I would reply In a branch where sacrament meeting attendance hovers around 35, anyone who shows up regularly has more than one calling. So, you see, not only am I the second counselor in the presidency, I am also the Primary Chorister.

If you were my mother you might say Chorister huh? That's not so bad, that has always been my favorite calling. And you'd be right. If you were my mother. You see, my mother sings well, she leads music well, and perhaps more importantly, she's always been a chorister in wards that a) have more than 10 kids show up every week, thus allowing for both a junior and a senior primary, b) have primary teachers show up on a regular basis, c) have primary children whose parents generally require that they wear shoes in church, and perhaps most importantly d) have a primary pianist.

Now, I don't want to complain--well, yes I do. If a girl can't complain on her blog, where can she? I find it difficult to get a handful of children aged 3 to 11 with inconsistent attendance, to learn and sing primary songs with a cd accompaniment. I find myself constantly fumbling with the buttons, trying to rewind just a little bit to review a section, switching cds to change songs and so forth. But, I must say, I've gotten quite adept.

This Sunday was the day I decided to pass out the parts. We have exactly 3 sundays to prepare for the program so I figured we'd work the first half today, the second next week and the whole shebang the week before the program. Then I got to church and realized we had 8 children there (not poor attendance for our primary) and one teacher. So, I spent the second hour with the three from the 8-11 class, reviewing their parts. Then, just prior to the last hour where we were to have our grand rehearsal, four of the children went home with their parents. This left us with four children aged 8-6-5-3. Try having a rehearsal with that motley crew.

To their credit, they did well. We read their parts and practiced some songs. I have written the program such that if hell freezes over and everyone shows, we'll go a bit long. But, it's also been written such that we just skip the parts of no-shows. Assuming a certain percentage of no-shows, and assuming that every 8-12 year old who shows prepares their assigned 2 minute talk, we should be able to cover the proscribed 30-40 minutes. I suppose that is a blessing in disguise for these children. Whereas most children in regular wards will get to say a one sentence part if they're lucky, every one of these children have at least 3 parts, and the Valiant class have page long parts and 2 minute talks. So, it's a lot to ask of them, but also a good learning experience.

The icing on the cake for the upcoming program is that my husband will be out of town. So, in addition to DeeJaying and leading, I'll have my two-year-old on my lap (probably pushing the buttons on the CD player) and my five-year-old likely refusing to sit on the stand and opting instead to sit in the front row and fight with his brother over the CD player. DeeJay K-Diddy (Ethan) and DeeJay E-Monkey (Elliot). I'll let you know how it goes.