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A Small Happiness
This morning I received an email from a lifelong friend, who just wanted to let me know that his son, Michael, has written a script for "Bones" that will be aired tomorrow night.
This is important -- not just for his parents, not because he is my son's friend, not even because he happens to be a bright, caring human being.
All of that is true. But the significance of this event, to me, is that it is proof positive that parental involvement matters.
A thousand years ago, Michael's mother decided that our children needed to write, produce and act in plays. Their first production was "A Stone in the Road." That first performance ( not to mention the tape of that performance) was excruciating.
Never mind. Ours was an adult perspective. What did the children learn?
That they were loved. That there were people who believed in them. That, with enough preparation and coincident timing (was that Johnson's or Pepys' definition of "luck"?) they might accomplish anything. They were nine children who were praised and encouraged, as they were also sensibly advised and critiqued. And, because they knew -- on some primitive brainstem level -- that they were loved, they could accept the advice and/or the critique.
Tonight, the cup is definitely half-full, perhaps even overflowing.
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Nice story, thanks.
I'm often pointing out that the most human thing is to talk and write.
April 22, 2009 9:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Very cool.
The world is built on mountains of half-finished projects. Completion is a miracle all its own.
They are right to be proud and happy.
Enjoy...
April 23, 2009 12:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Isn't it amazing how all these little pockets of wonderfulness are all around us? Thanks for a great story, WW...I'm setting the dvr right now...
What a great way to end a great day!
April 23, 2009 12:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Here's to half full, if not overflowing glasses, W. These are the little victories that change the world. Bringing out the potential in all of our children, our citizens, is more powerful than any weapon of mass destruction.
April 23, 2009 1:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Great story, ww. And I happen to watch Bones when it's on and I'm home. That's what comes out of working in funeral service, I'm afraid. No autopsy too gory.
April 23, 2009 5:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
Don't you wish that story was the norm instead of an example that needs to be reached for? I so agree WW. Children need not only to feel loved but to feel that their creative attempts are worth something.
I saw a great short (20 min) presentation by Sir Ken Robinson at TED - "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" In this humor filled presentation, he makes the case that all young children are inherently creative and they are not afraid of making mistakes. As they grow older however, the fear of being wrong often squashed this natural tendency.
Not only does it have a great message about education, it is hilarious as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
April 23, 2009 9:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
Great story. Shows just how much nurture is really the most important facet of childhood.
One of the things we found most lacking in northeast DC with many of the kids who grew up here was a lack of nurturing. It never occurred to them that they could do anything they wanted because all they learned was it would be a miracle if they even survived much less flourished.
Like Mage said, we have a lot of work to do if this blog is to become the rule rather than the exception.
April 23, 2009 10:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
Parents giving children homework with little advice other then, write a play?!?!? Now that is some excellent, creative, supportive parenting. I have no kids, but my sister will hear about this so my niece and nephew can be given a similar task, if she so chooses, but I would lay money she would agree. This is an awesome practice.
April 23, 2009 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks to all of you who have responded.
Sidebar: of the nine neighborhood children mentioned, it is not only Michael who has "gone for the gold." His brother writes complex video games; a set of twins wrote movie and cable scripts, including the first notable script for Renee Zellweger. My son interned, in editing, on The Right Stuff and Amedeus. And, most successful of all, is the group dufus, who turns out to have an incredible eye, which he has turned productively to cinematography.
"The Stone in the Road" -- the gift that keeps on giving. Praise Jesus.
April 23, 2009 7:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
My son insists that I amend his mention, and he is right: he was given the after-school opportunity, for weeks per production, to sit with a family friend who edited The Right Stuff and Amadeus. However, as he points out correctly, he was in the 8th grade at the time, so describing his experience as an internship is, in fact, overblown. Mea Culpa, MammaSan.
April 26, 2009 6:21 PM | Reply | Permalink