Last Friday was the Kindergarten Song Fest at O's school.   

They sang songs about science.  The boys wore bumblebee hats and the girls wore butterfly hats made of construction paper.  O was so excited that morning.  She wore her butterfly dress and requested pigtails in her hair.  

Occasions like this instill a very special pride that over takes me as a mommy.  It comes from deep within my heart and radiates as I make eye contact with O, and celebrate her performance of songs that she has rehearsed so many times.  I can assume, from all the mom's that I spoke with this morning, that they share the same sense of parental pride whenever their child is having a moment in the spotlight.  

It is also that parental pride that dominates our actions to capture that moment on film.  It can quickly overtake us as we race to get a good seat or we walk right up the center aisle in the middle of the performance and take a picture or video.  And if they are like me, the pictures and video get downloaded on my computer and that's as far as they go.  Yet, years from now when O asks to see the video of her kindergarten program, I can pull it up.  And I will not have to feel guilty that I didn't do it.

At the same time, there is a parental guilt when one loses sight of the moment.  The moment of listening, watching and meeting the child eye to eye.  

So I ask the question...Is it more important to be in the moment or to capture the moment on film?  I'm still not sure.  However, I am certain that the parent audience at O's program did not appreciate my arriving two hours early for a front row seat or the impact of my country girl elbows in positioning my camera on O during the concert.  Kindergarten SUCKS!