Circus minimus

The circus is in town, and Sam's class made its annual pilgrimage to the downtown arena for a few hours of ... well ... for a few hours.

Last year's trip was an adventure unto itself, what with the motorcycles, the tigers, and Miss Sarah. This year was a different theme and a different cast. Sadly, Miss Sarah no longer teaches at Sam's school, but his teacher, Miss Carrie sat next to us.

I'm not sure if she wanted to or just took pity on me because I had both kids. [Vicki's mom was in NY, so I had Jane with me too. Which was no big deal, but I think dads really bear the brunt of the "soft bigotry of low expectations." I put Jane in a little corduroy dress and had a pink clip in her hair, which elicited a "Jane looks so nice" comment from one of the moms that was equal parts sincere and surprised. I don't know if she expected to see Jane in a stained Jets jersey munching on a Slim Jim or what, but I can get my kids out of the house just fine thank you.]

I digress. Perhaps one of the funniest things about being at the circus with Sam's class was the way each of the kids greeted each other. The responses came in two varieties: complete and total silence accompanied by staring or amazement at the incredible coincidence that they too happened to be at the circus and in our section. It was awesome.

As for the show, this probably seems like a strange appraisal, but it was kind of boring. You know how they send out the clowns to divert the audience's attention while they set up for the next big thing? More than half the show felt like the diversion part of the program.

There was a whole subtheme of this clown in love with a trapeze artist that was completely lost on Sam. They also did a bit where two kids were picked from the audience to learn to be clowns. And there was a 15-minute parody of Dancing with the Stars called Dancing with the Clowns. Which was probably wildly entertaining for those who enjoy slapstick physical comedy and ballroom dancing.

In fairness, I'm judging the circus on whether or not it appealed to my three-year-old. And he enjoyed some of the bigger stuff, like the guy getting shot out of a cannon. But there was just a lot of downtime to contend with. For Sam, not for me, as I had Jane practicing standing by holding on to the hair of the girl in front of us. Erica, who is in Samson's class, was a really good sport about it and seemed to enjoy the attention Jane was paying her.

I've got more to cover, but I should probably get to work. I'll post more later. Stay tuned, there will be tigers...