(Bad) Stage Mother

The Matron and her family stumbled through a blurred weekend of family visits, lessons, shopping, various crises, homework, housecleaning and unexpected dinner guests.

Two of the latter - both Saturday and Sunday nights.

Saturday

Scarlett invites her friend over for the evening and asks, "Can her Mom come too?" They live one house away and the Matron loves the mom.

Matron: "Of course!"

Official impromptu dinner party. This is after a much larger, planned, hours-long dinner party the night before from which the Matron still has a slight headache.

Sunday

The Matron, who was till hoping to grade some papers and otherwise ditter away at work, spent four hours at the Mall of America--a toxic stadium which she visits once every four years -- with Scarlett, another (way cool) mom and a friend shopping for dresses for The Iveys, the Twin Cities version of the Oscars. Both girls are going as they are part of that crew.

Then there was a THREE HOUR CALLBACK for the lead in a local holiday production. The director kept sending away children and the Matron will admit she prayed a wee little prayer for her daughter to fall so she could leave the dingy, wi-fi-less waiting room. Instead, Scarlett was one of the last two girls standing. For three hours. They'll hear within a week.

This would be seven hours devoted to one child on a single day. Check that billing roster. Unsustainable.

Suddenly, the Matronly phone rings its little jig in the dingy waiting room.

Grandma Mary: "Are we still on for a big family dinner?"

Yours truly had no awareness, no brain cell or memory scan of said dinner. But, this was the grandmother who is moving across the country in a month.

She said: "Sure! Should we say six?"

Did she mention that they also had dinner guests on Friday and Saturday? This is all by the way of saying things were frenetic, weekend-wise.

So Monday, the Matron happily bid farewell to her brood and settled in for work (with a very strong cup of coffee after the midnight Mad Men fest). First, she thought it wise to check the family calendar, just in case.

The family calendar nearly knocked her over.

Guess who had an audition for a lead role in a Disney movie at 2:30 p.m, but who was also in school until that time without being reminded (and perhaps no memory of said audition) that she needed to be picked up early? Guess who didn't bring her script, contacts, or anything else (like appropriate clothing) to school because everybody forgot the audition? Guess who also was selected by the movie's casting agent as one of a handful of girls with the 'perfect look' for the role and was informed that this wasn't the typical 'needle in a haystack' audition but a narrow pack? Guess whose agent would probably die a thousand deaths if this child didn't show up? And finally, guess which child would never forgive her mother for forgetting an audition for a lead role in a Disney film.

Can we say that again? The Matron FORGOT about an audition for a lead role in a Disney film.

The only good thing is that now the Matron knows she can hustle. She packed up contacts, clothes, hair brush, script, resume and head shot. Called the school.

Matron: "I am really sorry but I forgot to tell my daughter that I need to pick her up at 1:30 today for an appointment."

School Secretary: "That's fine! We'll track her down and get her to the office. Doctor appointment?"

Matron: "Movie audition."

Little laugh. School Secretary: "Dentist or pediatrician?"

Matron: "Dentist."

But she got that child to the audition. Early. And it went well (which sort of means nothing but she's boasting about her crisis chops here, people).