Jan 24, 2014 - Reflected Glory

Last night, Katrina and I had a surreal experience.  I finished a normal workday, and when I got home the family was busily preparing dinner for the local missionaries.  We ate and chatted, and when dinner was over, they left.  Katrina and I followed them out the door and went to a parents' meeting for the cast of Aria's show.

We were 15 minutes late to a 30-minute meeting.  It was in the choir room, and the door is at the front of the room.  As we walked in, the director was saying, "...the parent's of Ariel asked that the date be moved into April..."  He noticed us and chuckled.  "Speak of the devil.  But that can't happen..."  We took our seats, and were shocked to find other parents react to us like celebrities.

Comments came from all around the room during and after the meeting: "Your daughter is stunning."
"I got chills when she sang."  "The girls were all good, but she was head and shoulders above the rest."  And it was odd, like she was some statue we had sculpted, or were somehow to be credited for her success.  It was a very strange experience.  She earned it on her own - she happens to be intelligent, talented, and an over-achiever.  She's pretty, too, but why would that matter to cosmopolitan adults?  It was a very 21st-century thing, I think.  I can't imagine my parents or those of the casts I worked with as a teen expressing themselves that way.  All the good things Aria is, she has earned. The only thing I am comfortable taking credit for is giving her an environment where she could become the person that could achieve those things.  No more than that.

And how does one react to such a thing?  Do you accept the compliment?  Do you deflect it back to the kid?  Do you ignore it?  And I felt bad because everyone knew who we were.  I don't know who anyone else is, and I should.  Every member of the cast is just as important.  

Modern parenting oddness.  Hm.  I wonder how many times we'll encounter this over the next 10 years.

We had a nice chat with Tracy (I think that's her name, I'm so bad with names) afterward, and we may end up auditioning for a summer show as a family.  It would be fun, we'll see if the schedule works, and if the other half of our family (Christian, Jake, and Libby) are interested at all.  There's lots of opportunity, just don't know what would work for us.