One Month To Go ...

I bought a dress.

It's sparkly.

I spent my morning unloading the dishwasher, wiping pee off the ground next to the toilet (we're working on aim), and realizing that all my boys' pants are suddenly too small.

But in my closet, hangs a sparkly gold dress. Opening night is coming.

I have two main projects right now, Rated P ... for Parenthood (the musical) and Parenthood itself. I have found that they're actually not that different from each other. I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I began either project, they've grown much faster than I've anticipated, and they both keep me up at night.

In the midst of matchbox cars and cheerios, I find myself shocked to actually require a sparkly dress. (Oh, and the shoes arrived yesterday!) My effort to keep my creative juices flowing - albeit even just during nap times - has resulted in a dream come true professionally. A) I can't believe it. B) I have no idea what to expect next.

When my kids were babies, I referred to What to Expect - The First Year almost daily. I could flip straight to each month and find out what developmental milestones were on tap. But there's no What to Expect - Your First Play is Being Produced book. If there were, I would go straight to the table of contents and search for "Should I cut that song on P. 56?"

My 2 year old woke me up the other day by saying:
"Welcome to New York City, Mommy!"
"Who are you?" I asked.
"I'm New York City Man!" he joyfully replied.

I couldn't find that in a book. My 6 year old at breakfast the other day announced, he wants to be a geneticist. I didn't see that one coming either. The truth is, the fun of parenthood has come from the unexpected moments. And (if I do a little yoga and breathe deeply), I realize that that is true for my show too. No book anywhere would have told me to expect that my first show would go from staged reading - to open ended run at the Westside Theatre - in 18 months. At 18 months, it should have been "reading board books on its own and scribbling well."

Maybe I should write What to Un-expect - The You Never Know What'll Happen so Get a Good Night's Sleep book. Uch - there I go. Like I need another project!

For now, I will buy my kids some new pants and count down the days until the Westside is filled with laughter - and I can wear my sparkly dress.