Mary Poppins Magic

February 24th we took the 3 oldest kids to Gammage to see "Mary Poppins." Thank you Gma Lindy for the tickets you gave us at Christmas! (She had a "spoonful of sugar" inside a box for the kids to guess what they were.) The entire night was magical. We picked up dinner at Steve's Krazy Sub and picnicked on one of the superbly green lawns. Gammage is so pretty at night and the kids thought it was so special to eat in the glow of it all. The fountains and lit walkways--which we got to walk up--were definite highlights. At intermission, we went outside to the huge balcony overlooking Tempe/ASU and danced around. It seemed a very normal thing to do.

We had prepped our kids for the show by downloading the musical recording. This was very helpful since the plot differs significantly from the movie, but can be followed pretty easily in the music. I went around the entire week after singing the spelling of SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS. It's a useful bit of knowledge to have stored in one's brain's pocket. We especially loved when Mary Poppins flies over the audience and Bert walks the upper perimeter of the stage. Wow. My kids were a bit concerned if it hurt the actors to have the lines attached that enabled them to fly, but I reassured them then, and several times since, that it doesn't hurt. (And if does, I'm sure they are paid enough to compensate :) By the end of the show, Avery was asleep on the auditorium floor, but I'm so glad we took her. It was so sweet to have a special night with all our "big kids."

I have a special place in my heart for Mary Poppins. I can't say the movie was anything special to me as a child, but when I saw it last summer in Washington, I really felt it was Providential. Some lines that spoke to me: "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down"; "Although you can't see it, you know they are smiling each time someone shows that they care"; "Nearly begun is half-done"; "And now my life's ambitions go, with one fell blow, it's quite a bitter pill to take"; "You've got to grind, grind, grind at that grindstone, though childhood slips like sand through a sieve and all to soon they've up and grown, and then they've flown, and it's too late for you to give. just. that. spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down". Each time I see George Banks walk alone to the bank, passing the silent still cathedral, and the music swells, I get tears in my eyes, remembering the scene where Bert asks the children who does their father go to when things go wrong for him? And now from the musical, "Dreams are made of strong elastic", "Childhood is a step in time, parenthood's the same, never miss the chance to get it right" and "Just remember when you're low, feeling in the wars, someone's up your chimney and it isn't Santa Claus. If you need us, if you don't, doesn't make much odds. We'll be watching over you, brushes brooms and rods." Isn't that how a mom feels? Okay, so I'm not up the chimney, but I hope that as I work around my house with my kids, I will learn to put aside the physical results of the work, and always be there with an open heart and a broom, hairbrush or toilet brush in hand. Really, when hands are busy and minds are free, don't the best heart-to-heart exchanges happen? I have lot to learn from Mary Poppins. It's one of the few movies we actually own, so hopefully repeated watching over the years will result in some of these timeless messages rubbing off on me.