Melancholy Monday Flood Gates Opened

Melancholy Monday ended with a record number of tears shed. While I don't necessarily understand all the reasons for the tears, I am sure the girls felt they were worthy causes for opening the emotional flood gates. The most memorable...

1. I said "Good morning."
2. Mac went to work.
3. We weren't having hot dogs for dinner.
4. Mac didn't know what the weather was going to do.
5. Mac didn't need to know what the weather was going to do.
6. I told the girls we would have time to watch a movie.
7. I suggested we read Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.
8. Amalia is moving.
9. I told the girls they didn't have to do their summer school work.
10. I said we had time to go to the park.
11. I bought socks that were intentionally mismatched.
12. A2 found her tap shoes. (I may have been the one crying over this...)
13. It was 5:30PM.
14. Andi Mack was deleted.
15. It was 8:30PM

These are totally normal, right?

Melancholy Monday

The entire A Team (and their mangers) are all suffering from a severe case of "Post Show Funk" on this melancholy Monday.

Anyone new to theatre or who hasn't ever had the opportunity to be a part of a live theatre production: these are the totally and completely normal feelings one endures upon the close of a show. The Post Show Funk, PSF, reactions will vary depending on level of show involvement, emotional maturity, emotional involvement, age, and amount of sleep one has had in the previous 3 weeks.

Examples of PSF:

A1: Instead of breaking out in spontaneous songs or tap dances, she is breaking out in bursts of tears. Sobbing has become her new form of communication. I am not going to lie, I do kind of prefer it to her usual communication via grunts, sighs, and eye rolls. She has described herself as "feeling empty inside." She is currently filling that emptiness with stale potato chips and reruns of Disney shows. Based on past PSF, I know she will soon start texting, snapchatting, and messaging cast members. Sorry.

A2: She is currently avoiding her feelings. She woke up, walked downstairs, looked at the pile of Muni memorabilia, cried, and then promptly returned to bed. That was 2 hours ago. This morning, (3AM) before she went to bed, she let us all know she wouldn't ever do another show again, because it just hurts TOO much to say goodbye to all of her best friends.

A3: This Verruca Salt wanna-be, has a one way ticket to Warren Behavior Bootcamp. Ok, so maybe her parents might actually be the ones who need the bootcamp... She has spent the last three weeks getting little sleep and dealing with distracted parents. She has been handed anything/everything she wants to keep her quiet and happy-ish. She has heard how cute, funny, smart, etc. she is no matter how mean/evil she was acting. She was doted on by cast, crew, parents, and staff. She felt like the center of the world. Now it is back to reality, where has always been treated like the center of the universe.

Mac: TBD. He is at work today and is unable to report in on his PSF.

Carrie: I am a mixed bag of emotions. I will spend the day looking through pictures, planning scrapbooks that won't ever happen, and eating all the foods. I am sad that my girls are sad. I am nervous because I am now the summer entertainment. The first few weeks were easy because they were hanging out with 60+ of their best friends or sleeping all day. Now it is all me, without my new Muni mom best friends supporting me. I am excited to start the summer projects I have planned. I am also tired, but that is my normal state of being...

How I beat PSF

1. Ice Cream
2. Brownies
3. Brownie/Ice Cream Combo
4. Make plans to meet up with cast members at some point in the next week.
5. Pizza
6. Buy new socks
7. Challenge/bet other parents.

• Make a betting pool
• See whose kid cries the most
• Bet on the number of times your kid will cry
• Bet on the number of times your kid will fall asleep while you are talking to them
• Bet on the number of times your kid calls you mean because you simply walked in the room
• Put money on it, or babysitting time

8. Sign your kids up for an activity and then miss the first day because everyone is too tired. 

9. Look out the window, comment on the beauty of the outdoors, but don't go out because you are on a nature detox. 

10. Talk about the next show

As the week goes on the PSF will wear off. Life will return to normal. There will be other shows. There will be more PSF. AND there will be more brownie/ice cream combos!

Musical Review: A Team Style

Last night the girls had a sneak preview of the WHS musical "Once Upon A Mattress." I thought it was important for the girls to get to see what I have been doing almost every night for the last 8 weeks.  Plus, Mac had a meeting scheduled at the same time as my final tech rehearsal and our babysitter was MIA, so... Anyway, here is our review:

Our anti-song, youngest was quickly won over as soon as Hannah began to belt her first note of "Shy." Perhaps, it was because the song spoke to her tiny shy self or it was because Hannah is undeniably adorable as the swampy princess Winnifred. A3's attention was held by our Larken.  Every time Abby walked onto the stage A3 would say, "Abby." She would repeat it over and over and over until Abby was no longer in sight and then she changed her chant to, "Abby, where are you?" Her repeated "Abby chant" paused only while Abby was singing.  A3 was in awe over that beautiful soprano songstress!  A3 was also impressed by "John." She could have been talking about the ever impressive Dauntless, but I can't be sure of that since every teenaged boy, according to A3, is "John." This can be accredited to our babysitter's son, John, who is the bee's knees according to my girls.
A3 danced her special A3 dance to all the songs and would do her best to imitate the performers on the stage. My favorite was when she was imitating the "Spanish Panic," but you will just have to come to the show to see why. Plus, I don't have any idea what that dance move is called and I don't want my age to show.... A3 summed up last night's theater performance as "Good." She did her best to hang with the big girls, but she goes to bed at 7:30 so it was rough once it hit 8:30.

It is hard to tell who loved the show more, A1 or A2. Both said they LOVED it and begged to watch it again Saturday and Sunday.  While they both said it was the best show they had ever seen, they each had different reasons.  A1, being the politically correct one of the group, said, "Everyone was really good." She told me she wasn't able to pick just one favorite person in the show.  She stayed pretty true to her word. Although, on the way home our conversation centered around all of the Queen's lines which she was amazingly able to recite. On the way to the babysitter's house this morning she asked to listen to "Sensitivity" and then broke the news that I need to start making a dress that looks just like Annelise's. A1 says she will be Queen Aggrivane for Halloween. Now, I know that she hasn't said in so many words who her favorite person was but I have a pretty good guess and it isn't just because of her name!

A2 was a little more upfront on her views.  She liked all the songs but the King and the Prince were the funniest during their song, Man to Man. Thankfully, she did not understand what they were talking about! Her favorite characters were Winnifred because she was really strong and has pretty hair, Harry and his Lady because Harry is cute, and the Wizard because he is magical. A2 just brought me a paper that she wrote that said, "I <3 E". She told me she spelled the name "HAIR-E." This little showmance she has created in her head just might be the trick I needed to get her more interested in letter sounds, writing, and reading. THANK YOU HAIR-E!   She loved all of the costumes, especially the purple dresses.

I asked the girls if they thought people should go see the show and they responded with their pre-teen scrunchy "duh" expressions.  A1 couldn't understand why people wouldn't want to go see the show because "it is the best and it is about a princess and my dad built the bed."

My take on the show: Of course everyone should come see it! The talent that this group of 38 students has is unbelievable. This show is funny, I mean laugh out loud hilarious. It is a grown up twist on the Princess and the Pea. There are a few adult level jokes but all of them went over the heads of the A Team. Many of them even went over the heads of the high school students and that, my friends, is refreshing. I promise, as long as you have a sense of humor, you will enjoy "Once Upon a Mattress." For those of you who don't have a sense of humor, well I am sorry because that is a sad existence. 

Oh and if you need another reason to come see the show, we have famous people in it!

Jennifer Lawrence as Princess #12

and Dave Franco as the knight who was tricked into auditioning and ended up being a featured dancer...