Start your engines

It's time to kick into Drama Mama gear.

This isn't my first time so I have an inkling of what I'm getting into.  I'm familiar with the costumes, makeup, rehearsal schedule, tech week.

It is the first time that I am doing it with a seventh grader though.  And Mark?  He communicates like...a seventh grade boy.

Just yesterday we had a conversation about the fact that while it may seem like he has a cell phone for the sole purpose of using all of our data, he actually has a cell phone so he can communicate with me.

He has vague notions about schedules and costume requirements and he thinks they are perhaps on papers in his backpack but he's not sure.  I finally pinned him down to give me a paper of important dates.  He sighed deeply at the unreasonable amount of time it was taking me to go through every item on the list and enter it into my phone calendar.  (Moms with their incessant need to "know when things are happening" can be such a pain!)

I noticed he'd written this on the bottom of the page:

He's been around the school drama scene long enough to know what a cast party means.


Yesterday after school, we hit a thrift store for costume needs.  He needed a white button up shirt.  He thought he should use one of his church shirts.  I thought we should buy him a cheap (disposable) one.  He started to dig in his heels about that being unnecessary and I pointed out the invalid nature of his opinion because it was my money and if I wanted to buy a Mark sized white shirt, I would.  Also, I reminded him it wasn't my first drama mama rodeo and I would prefer his more expensive church shirts in his closet and the thrift store white shirt crumpled up in a heap backstage.

Thank you very much.

Despite my sort of annoyed feelings toward the ginger (you noticed?), I did relent to buy him a knee length jacket that we both decided was too good to pass up.

He modeled it for me when we got home, complete with hat (which he may use as part of his costume), PVC pipe gun, and socks made dirty from the trampoline.  I think the Star Wars t-shirt and track pants (a.k.a. Mark's uniform) really set it off.

Mark insists when he's a grown up he will buy all his clothes at thrift stores because he loves the bargains. 

Am I the only one whose children have an arsenal of props in case of a photo shoot?  (In Mark's case the arsenal of props often includes an arsenal of weapons.)

Civilizing that boy is part of my life's work but it's a project I'm happy to tackle.  He's always been worth the trouble.

He is as happy being involved in theater as his siblings before him.  He sings the songs and shows me the dances and approaches it all with so much enthusiasm that sometimes I have to beg him to stop.  (You've delighted us long enough.)

I am looking forward to watching him on stage though.  Exciting times.