To feel just a little bit sad that DD isn't Mary in her Nativity Play

[Bearwantsmore]

... I know, I know! But if you can't admit it on Mumsnet, where can you?!

[gloomywinters2]

ha ha i was mary joseph was ginger and me being mixedrace great conbination wonder what baby jesus looked like been an angel too.

[GooseyLoosey]

Imagine my joy at dd's last nativity to discover that she had been cast as Mary. I was so happy - none of my family have ever starred in anything.

My joy turned to dust however when I discovered that this was an alternative nativity told from the perspective of the animals and Mary was a bit part. The star was the donkey!!!

[lifeintheolddogyet]

I was a random angel, but when Gabriel and another angel started squabbling over who would give the baby Jesus to Mary I split them up and gave the baby to her myself. IN THE REAL PLAY, oh yes.

The DSs are a sheep and another random angel.

Arf @ sacking Mary.

[NanaNina]

Ah we had the May Queen thing at my Catholic School. The statue of Mary was carried out into the playground and one girl got stand on a school and "crown her" - I can actually remeber the name of the girl with long blonde hair who crowned her one year, Pauline Hall! We sang " Oh Mary we crown thee with blossoms today, queen of the angels and queen of the May....Mind we all got to walk in the May procession in church in white dresses and veils - wow that was soooooooo exciting and pumps especially whitened as we didn't have white shoes in those far off days in the 1950's.

However at another catholic church we sometimes went to in another town (where all my mum's relations went) they had "strewers" - girls in white dresser and veils with baskets of flower petals that they strewed along the aisles of the church...............oh the thrill of just watching that, but what I would have given to be a strewer...........
Bogeyface do you live anywhere near Manchester, as I remember there they had the "Whit walks" (when we used to have Whitsun holiday 6 weeks after Easter) rather than Spring Bank Holiday. I never went but i think the catholics walked on one day and the protestants on the other.

Memories.............

[Bogeyface]

We have the May Queen thing here. Lots of children parading through the streets with crepe paper covered sticks! And yes, we did all want to be the May Queen and yes, it was always the prettiest girl.

We had a cherry blossom tree in our front garden so had our own May Queen ceremony under it with my sister, me and all our friends taking it in turns to be the Queen. One year, when my sister was in the right year to be Queen (top year infants) and wasn't :( , a girl in my year wanted to be MQ in our game, but we didnt let her because she had actually been MQ at school, and she cried.

The adult part of me is but the child part of me is :o when I remember it!

[CruCru]

It's a bit off topic but did any of you have the May festival at your school? At my infants (up to age 7), every girl was convinced she would be May queen or one of her ladies in waiting. It was always the prettiest girl. I was a clown but I cried when someone hit me in the face with a custard pie.

One year at my Junior school we did Roald Dahl's Cinderella for the nativity. It was a good idea except the teacher gave me the part of the fairy. I had to jump out onto the stage with a big thud (to be fair, it got a lot of laughs). I was quite overweight and quite badly bullied - looking back, it was a strange choice. The teacher was a bit of a cow though.

[blondefriend]

At 1 DD was a reindeer, at 2 she was a snowman, at 3 she was Father Christmas (don't ask!). This year she's Mary - I found her asleep in bad the other night with her bunny up her pjs, apparently he was Jesus.

[conorsrockers]

All the kids in our school (DS2 is Yr2 and DS3 Yr1) get two lines each. DS2 is 2nd King and DS1 is an innkeeper. He has to sing his lines : "I've a stable bare, you can sleep in there" (has been practicing constantly for the last couple of weeks!) It works well, no-one gets singled out - they all have the same amount to say so it doesn't matter who they are .

[Molehillmountain]

It would all be okay if in some schools the part of Mary was not seen as a reward for good behaviour. And if Mary wasn't dd1's now ex best friend. And if I were a real grown up instead of a child in her late thirties

[SchnitzelVonKrumm]

Y2 are doing the Nativity this year, with reception children as stars, sheep etc. My DD (Y2, good reader, confident performer, otherwise completely away with the fairies) appears to be totally unaware of the whole thing. Am terrified she actually has a part but missed the memo, but can't think of a way of asking without sounding like insane stage mother

[Francesa]

Bearwantsmore, I really don't blame you for feeling a little sad, my little one got to be a star last year, this years its a elf!

[NanaNina]

Going off the thread I know but I saw a card on FB the other day with two womem with arms folded and the one is saying "a virgin birth I can just about believe in......but three wise men...nah"!!!

Yes I know it's sexist!

[FairyChristmas]

Ooh that should definitely have been a

[FairyChristmas]

Loving this thread - DD came stomping out of reception saying, "I have to be a star and I really want to be Mary!"

In their times in reception, DS1 was the innkeeper and DS2 was the narrator.

Although I remember one hideous time DS1 was a spider and I had to make the costume - not very well...

[elvisaintdead]

DS3 is a sheep in his nursery reception - he is THRILLED, as am I :-)

[MistletoeAndTomHardyPlease]

My DS is Joseph.

Oh yes.

[Newtothisstuff]

My DD1 is an emu. ! Yep an emu.. They are doing Christmas in Australia this year apparently

[funnyperson]

Did someone say Mary was the part given to the quiet ones whose confidence needed a boost?
This finally clears something up for me. I was Mary. I was the only non speaking part as I recall because I had to sit there smiling at a dolly in my arms whilst all the shepherds, kings, camels etc did interesting walking talking dancing stuff.

[FellowshipOfFestiveFellows]

Here you go Real

[Panzee]

I've just remembered I played Mary in a high school Nativity. I got to have a bump, faint and sing. :)

[RealAleandOpenFires]

FOFF something like that, or we make it up as we go along?

(OP...sorry for hijacking the thread )

[edam]

Riverside, have you checked that the innkeeper isn't in a union? I can see the reception children waving placards at the school gate and yelling 'one out, all out!'

[comelywenchlywoo]

I can't remember whether I was ever Mary in a nativity play when I was young. I DO remember wanting to be the angel Gabriel in nursery, but not getting to do it, but then, oh Christmas miracle of miracles, the girl who was supposed to do it wouldn't say her lines and so I got my Christmas wish. My tights fell down though. You can't have everything.

Fast forward many years and I got to be Mary in a village play. It. was. awesome! DH played Joseph (he has a beard so that may be why we got the gig). And there were REAL donkeys. We went around the village in full dress (in the dark), knocked on the pub door and were "directed" to the stable. Unfortunately, we didn't know the village (part of the deal - they like "strangers" to do it), and the Inn Keeper pointed to a fork in the road. Thankfully, we picked the right way and settled down in our al fresco stable with real livestock and carols.
They even made posters with us on. I lost our poster. I'm still gutted about that. Dsis is not. It freaked her out. I assume because I was such an awesome Mary [bgrin]

[bdaonion]

DD1, my little titian beauty was always the narrator and has grown into a gobby little shite confident young lady now.

DD3 has an out of control Afro and doesn't conform to the traditional Nativity ethereal look, so I'm resigned to her being relegated to the back of the chorus...but I know she is still the real star