Ups and downs

On the downside, Emma came home from school Friday in distress.  Her cell phone wasn't working.  The screen was scrambled and unresponsive.  The tragedy!  I assured her that her dad would deal with it.  (In our division of labor, anything with an apple on it is under his jurisdiction.)

On the upside, Friday was also the day Emma got her contacts!

It was exciting.  She wanted me to take a picture to send to Braeden and Adam as we were on our way to the van.  Emma almost snapped an elastic on her braces her smile was so wide:

On the upside, earlier in the week Emma and Braeden both had a callback for the musical.  On the downside, Friday Braeden was asked for a second round of callbacks and Emma wasn't. 

Anxiety ensued.

Saturday morning we checked email and facebook every 10 seconds.  Just to see.  (It's hard to be very productive when you are checking email and facebook every 10 seconds.)

Finally, FINALLY, the cast list was posted.  Braeden called down the stairs and Emma and I bolted up the stairs to find out the verdict.

Braeden was cast.

Emma wasn't.

It is a much smaller than usual cast, about half that of the previous spring musical.  No freshmen or even sophomore girls were cast.  The competition was incredibly fierce.

None of that really helped.

Braeden, Adam and I all descended on Emma to comfort her.  She stood up and walked down the stairs. We called after her.  "I'm going to play the piano," she said, her spine straight.

I followed her down the stairs and insisted she talk to me first.  I wrapped my arms around her and we sat on the couch together and cried.  The top of her head got soaked from my tears.  Heartbreak is contagious, especially when your children are involved.  Adam and Braeden came in the room too.  We tried our best to soften the blow to our dear disappointed little one.  Braeden pulled her to his chest and promised she was talented.  She was loved.

Then we let her play the piano.

Later, Emma told me that she felt bad that everyone comforted her and no one made a big deal out of Braeden getting a part.

Where did I get these kids that are so kind to each other?

On the upside, Adam had been messing with Emma's phone and determined that we just needed to buy her a new one.  I told Emma that it was unrelated to her not getting cast in the play.  I told her that she was not getting a new phone because she had been disappointed.

(Frankly though, I don't think it hurt.  I know how Adam feels about his little girl...)

We went to the Apple store and found a parking spot right out front.  On a Saturday.  At the mall.  In December.  It was momentous.

The Apple store took forever like the Apple store does.  At one point a really creepy looking guy came in and I felt a visceral reaction.  I had to get myself and my daughter away.  I whispered to Adam, who was talking to the Apple store guy, that we were leaving.  Emma and I ventured in and out of nearby stores.  In Coldwater Creek we perused the jewelry.  Emma found some earrings she thought I should buy because she thought they looked like something I would like.  Then we found a pretty matching bracelet.  I had Emma do the math to find out what the sale price was.  In the absence of Adam it is handy to have Emma to quickly do math.  They are both math ninjas (which is preferable to me thinking I'm a math dunce).

Emma and I had a lovely time together.  I love my girl. 

Emma had a birthday party that night to attend.  On the way, she said, "This has been a dramatic weekend."  She's right.  There were a lot of highs and lows.  It's hard to be disappointed.  (It's hard to have your children disappointed and to be powerless to fix it.)

It's wonderful to be loved though.  It's wonderful to be resilient.  It's wonderful to go play the piano after you've had your little cry.

It's nice to know that life goes on.