Hillendale Elementary wrapped up the academic year with the annual fifth-grade Wax Museum. It was quite amazing: the kids chose scenes from American history, for example a Southern plantation or the Boston Tea Party, decided how best to portray them, produced sets and costumes, and then acted out the scene without speaking or moving as visitors walked by.
Some kids had it easier than others, although I know it's not easy even playing dead (you have to breathe without letting your abdomen rise). I have no idea how others stayed so still -- like the plantation mistress who was pointing out a spot of dust to her slave.
Of course I did my darnedest to distract the Young Relative, but I was utterly without success (my parents claim they got him to crack a tiny smile, but I'm skeptical).
What a terrific tradition! The kids probably didn't know that such "tableaux vivants" were a popular form of entertainment before our current media age.
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