Sometimes, despite your clumsiest attempts to do all the stuff that the “parenting” “experts” say you have to do with your kids and beat whatever politically correct crap is de rigeur into their busy little brains, they manage to grow up pretty darn successfully *anyway*. “I’m going to do it *anyway*!”, the toddler Mouse would often say, in perfectly enunciated English that was almost too fluent for her own good. [Er, actually, Grandroobly probably negated any kind of politically correct crap I may have spewed out but that’s a whole ‘nother story.]

Today, we dragged over to Kalamazoo early in the morning to take Mouse out for breakfast and then watch her play Cynthia in The Real Inspector Hound. If you know the play, Cynthia is quite a departure from the last role Mouse played, which was Sister Mary Ignatius. And I didn’t know the play, but I *should* have known it because during my tenure with YAG, I believe we produced The Real Inspector Hound twice. But I don’t like to sit passively in an audience so I tended to hang about backstage unless one of my kids was on-stage. If it was a particularly long, drawn-out Shakespearian-type play, I would often sneak into the back of the theatre only when my kid was on stage and then retreat to the backstage area again. Yes. I am that bad.

Today? I was rapt with attention. Mouse was on stage a lot *and* she did the costumes! (Er, and it was only an hour. I can sit for an hour.)

This was a completely student-produced play. The Kalamazoo College class of 2009 has 13 theatre majors. That’s a larger group than usual and this particular group elected to forgo the drunken stupor of a beach vacation in a warm place to spend their last spring break rehearsing/producing a play. They had the use of college theatre facilities but there was no faculty intervention at all.

So, in addition to having to rehearse as an actor, Mouse handled the costuming. That involved pulling together various pieces of outfits from wherever and also making the dresses. She managed this in large part from her small one-bedroom apartment. The one where the GG took an after-breakfast nap today. I am going to miss that place, but that’s a whole ‘nother story too. But do not walk barefoot because there are probably pins on the carpet. She learned how to do that early because my house is the same way.

I worked extra hard on my UFP today. Most of the way over there and most of the way back and listening to the GG snore in Mouse’s apartment. Why? Because I cannot believe what a lazy old bag I have turned into. Never really finishing anything that’s not work-related. And I am gonna finish this blasted thing. Look at what our kids can do! They are so fantastic! All of them, not just mine! I marvel every day at how my kids managed to survive me and my parenting skills. Or lack thereof!

Oh, and for Mouse’s role in this play, she has had to learn a totally un-Mouse-like skill, hair-dressing. She probably spent an hour this morning (I was there but wasn’t watching the time) in her apartment curling and hairspraying her hair. Fortunately there were only a few performances… Last night, a woman from the [“sold”-out] audience approached Mouse after the show and, uh, *touched* her hair. She couldn’t figure out whether it was Mouse’s real hair or a wig.

Bravo Mouse and the other cast/crew members! And after strike, Mouse went to a rehearsal for the next play…

G’night. –KW

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 5th, 2009 at 7:20 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.