My heart dropped in my stomach. My mind began to race with a million excuses. Beads of sweat started to appear on my forehead.
Mom, I think I want to be in the school play. I want to be an actress.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Also.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Ok maybe I am over reacting. My daughter simply wants to try out for a part as a fairy in A Midsummer’s Night Dream at her school.
It was the ‘actress’ part that got me. Combine this with her ‘let’s go visit HOLLYWOOD’ mantra and I was ready to go hang myself.
Maybe it’s because we live in Los Angeles and I see a lot of stage moms around here. Maybe it’s because I can only think of like ONE child actor that is normal...Wil Wheaton. Does he count? He does, right?
All I know is my daughter wants to do something and I want to talk her out of it. But I know I shouldn’t and I know I can’t. I shouldn’t because if she truly wants to do this, I don’t want to stand in the way. I can’t because…well…she’s my daughter…she’ll find a way and accept her Oscar with ‘And my MOM said I COULDN’T! SUCK IT MOMMY!’
So what do I do? I tell her…
Ok honey, if you want to, we can go to try outs tomorrow.
Wish me luck. I feel sick.
Well, sicker than usual.
If Wil is the only one like that, then by definition he’s not normal. That’s why we like him so much though.
LOL! At first I was scared it was a voodoo doll!
I say ALWAYS encourage them to follow their dreams. They pretty much change their minds a lot at that age anyway. But my parents always gave me a million reasons why I couldn’t do something. I hated it!
I really should have linked Wil’s site and not the Bloggess but i really can’t get enough of that photo of him collating papers… in order to piss off stupid PR people. It’s genius.
LOL! I’m positive she will be a wonderful midsummer nights fairy! And you are a great Mom so none of those crazy stage mom stories do not apply 🙂
SInce seeing Gulliver’s Travels my seven year old gets ready everynight in his white t-shirt, tighty whities, and pulled up socks, proclaiming he wants to be Jack Black. I think wanting to be a fairy in a beautiful shakespeare play is a much better option 🙂
Soliel Moonfrye, Jenny Lewis, Alanis Morrisette, Justin Timberlake, Jerry O’Connell, Ron Howard, Shirley Temple, Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning, Jodi Foster, Brooke Shields, Laura Jill Miller, Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman. Need I go on?
Ron Howard?
Let her do it, the stage is an awesome place. Of course, I was a child stage actor so I’m biased. Still I like to think I turned out normal. 🙂
NPH = another child actor that totally rocks it. (NPH = Neil Patrick Harris)
She will be a stunning fairy. Next month she’ll want to be something else. Sometimes I really miss that age.
Listen, if it keeps her off the stripper pole I say go for it.
Hey, she wants to do SHAKESPEARE. Not Fast and Furious 11 or Hostel 15.
Just have her stick with The Bard for a while. Maybe she’ll be the next Dame Judi Dench.
I grew up with child actors, and most of them turned out just fine. One even was the recipient of Brad Pitt’s first on-screen kiss. The last I heard of her, she’s a librarian in Texas and married to a minister.
Go Halla!
It’s never too early for a mom-daughter watching of The Runaways! ;-p