BOY TRAPPED

Where the inside of my mind leaks onto the screen.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Two Face

"Wait, turn around..." I said to Adam as he left one day for football.  "We'd better make sure we wash off all your makeup."

Who knows if he'll stick with either one, but for about a seven week period, Adam was actively involved both theater and football.  I am grateful he didn't have too many conflicts between the two, because it was fun to support such a well-rounded kid.

I had to laugh one morning when he asked for an alternate breakfast, passing up the high sugar levels of the breakfast cake I'd planned.  "Coach says no sugar during football season."

And I laughed again when we took the kids to Golden Corral on opening night.  Careful to avoid a stomach ache, Adam had selected a well-balanced plate of popcorn shrimp, mashed potatoes, and green beans.  When I mentioned I was pretty impressed by his choices, he explained his plan to follow up with the foods he really wanted, and then to limit himself to only 10 desserts.

Later that evening at the opening night Village Inn party, he and three of his EYT buddies serenaded the mom table with their original song titled, "Maple Syrup."  Arriving at home at midnight, he catalogued nearly 8 hours of sleep before heading off to his first football scrimmage.

I feel pretty grateful to be raising a son who can have a black-streaked face from crying off his mascara one exhausted night and from sweating off his "war paint" the next day.  I feel grateful to live in a community with organized programs designed to teach my son life skills.  As Randy Pausch wrote in The Last Lecture,, the goals of these programs are pretty much always to teach "teamwork, perseverance, sportsmanship, the value of hard work, and ability to deal with adversity."

Theater and athletics may seem to be diametrically opposed, but as Kirk and I have discussed our personal experiences, we've drawn correlations between "notes" and "reviewing film."  There are similarities between "choreography" and "plays."  But right now there's a much stronger bond between our two worlds.

His name is Adam.


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