Four Musicals and a Dance Competition
Now that we just have Number 4 with us in the house, Kori and I have joked with him often that we are going to be up in all his business all the time or we are going to be leaving him alone to fend for himself and care for the dogs because we will be traveling. I can tell you now that we are almost done with his junior year of high school and we are definitely constantly up in his business. We are so heavily invested in him right now that I am sure he would love if we got away for a weekend or even much longer than that.
We talk often to our other kids and have long conversations with them about life, classes, their job and travel but once the kids leave the house, the relationship becomes a little different. It moves from one of constant involvement and parental counsel to more of a “check-in” to make sure things are going alright and inquire about their needs and if they are seeking any opinions from us. Most times we view these “check-ins” as our opportunity to voice our opinion even if they don’t ask for it, which inevitably ends our conversations quite quickly. Luckily we have Number 4 still at home and he has no choice but to listen to us.
Last weekend is one I am sure Number 4 was glad we were home for and that we were involved because it was one of those busy weekends that as it is approaching, you wonder to yourself or even out loud, “how the heck are we gonna do all this?” We had weekends when all our kids were involved in sports that I would simply hand my wife her weekend schedule and the kids that she was taking and say, “See ya at dinner!” Now with only one left at home, no printed schedules are usually needed. This weekend was thankfully an exception because we are getting too old for the constant running after kids all day.
Number 4 loves performing on stage and he had two amazing opportunities that weekend. First he was one of the leads in the spring musical at his high school and he also had a dance competition in town that spanned the same days. Luckily for us, we have a dance studio that goes the extra mile for its kids so they don’t have to choose one activity over another. Our director, Ms. Diane, worked with the dance competition to rearrange his schedule so that he could perform in almost all of his dances and still make it to all four of his stage performances. It was a crazy weekend but totally worth it watching him do what he loves.
On Sunday night, when the competition was over and the set for the musical had been broken down, we finally had a chance to reflect on what had just been and we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. We are fortunate that we haven’t had to limit our kids’ involvement in activities. It has been our conscience decision to not limit them, unless absolutely necessary. If they love what they are doing, we will try to make it work! That has always been our choice but we don’t judge others who do limit activities because it takes lots of coordination, communication and patience. Luckily for us this weekend worked out perfectly. Of course I could easily write about the many times our plans failed miserably. I will leave that for another day…or simply pick up your copy of Zag Zig Parenting and read about all our blunders while raising our 4 awesome kids.
