My two youngest are in The Circle Player’s production of “Oliver!” opening this Friday night, October 17. It has been an amazing experience for them although exhausting. They have had rehearsals every night this week and don’t get home with their dad (who also has a cameo) until 11. I’ve been driving them to school to let them get an extra hour of sleep in the morning, skipping the bus. We are one of the over-scheduled families … I wonder how we stack up to others? My oldest plays high school soccer and takes voice lessons. My middle school son is on the JV soccer team at school, takes trumpet lessons and plays both travel soccer and rec ice hockey … I worry that he doesn’t get enough time to build roller coasters in his room which is what he really wants to do … My fourth grader is in “Oliver!” and also plays travel soccer and recreational hockey and my youngest, in kindergarten, is playing soccer and does run club after school. We are a competitive bunch. I love competitiveness … It leads us to go, go, go and bite off a lot from all of the things we really like to do. It is the edge that drives excellence. Too many people are scared to death of that attitude and want me to believe that “we are all the same.” I don’t believe that. We are all made up of different stuff and are driven to follow what we’re made up of if we can hear that beat, beat, beat of the drum within our selves. I hear it. I’m trying to help my kids to hear theirs. That’s why when my 10-year-old whines after school that he has nothing to do I can drop the groceries I just slogged through the door and say, “Man, I’d give anything for five minutes of boredom!” Five minutes of boredom would be a glorious thing. Instead I have 24 hours of chasing my tail through the day!
