So, was it worth it?

YES!

I devoted the last two months of my life to a high school play. At times, I neglected my children, my husband, and my house. After some practices, I came home and just wanted to give up. Sometimes I thought it was impossible to get everything done on time. Many times, I gritted my teeth at the lack of help and sometimes even support. But was it worth it?

YES!

I learned so much about Beatrix Potter. She was an amazing woman. Talk about persistence, patience, and vision! She not only wrote children stories, but was a conservationist and gave over 1000 acres of land and an unique breed of sheep to the National Trust (similar to our State Parks). And her stories are captivating. Kids love them, relate to them, and dream about them. Watching the faces of kids watching the stories was beautiful. They loved them! She understood that kids don't want "moralistic little stories", that there is a difference between being bad and being foolish, and that naughty little bunnies sometimes turn out to be responsible and helpful grown-up bunnies, but not always. But I could have learned all that without doing a play. Was the play worth it?

YES!

I love these students. Some of them I taught in Kindergarten, so I have known and loved them for years. It was so exciting to see how they have grown and developed and are now wonderful young men and women. It was fun to "teach" them again, opening up a new world for them, and getting to see their poise, confidence, and imagination grow. Others I have worked with on other performances, but those were several years ago. I loved seeing how those girls have become lovely and talented young women, so full of hopes and dreams and potential. And there were others who I have never worked with before. I enjoyed getting to know them and hope that they will try again and I can use what I learned about them to help them do even better next time.

And then there were the parents and helpers. At the beginning, I realized this was the first play that I have directed that I was closer to many of the parents age than the students age. But by the end, age and experience didn't mattered; we all worked as a team and made a beautiful show.

On top of that, my boys became friends with some of the cast and several of the parent helpers. They loved playing with Ben and Josiah. Eamon was disappointed when he couldn't go play with Mrs. Irvin or Mrs. Danielle. Malcolm didn't mind cuddling Ruth and a few of the other girls. And Eamon also took another step toward independence by staying at a friends house while I was not there at all! The first few times he cried, but then he began to look forward to it.

These relationships are what made all the difficulties and hard parts worth it. For these kids, I would and hope to do it all over again.