I'm Cheering for Cheering!

During March, I am participating in the Slice of Life challenge, hosted by twowritingteachers.wordpress.com. I go back and forth between this blog and the blog that I share with Melanie Swider, tworeflectiveteachers.blogspot.com, depending on whether my post is personal or education-related. Bloggers from around the world are posting daily, committed to the practice of sharing, reflecting, remembering...writing! Feel free to stop by this incredible March happening and check out other posts or even join in--there's no rule that says you have to start on March 1st!

Last night, I was so proud of my daughters, and my pride came not from what they were doing, but rather, from how they were doing it. Julia is a sophomore and she was the last player to be called up to the varsity basketball team in time for the post-season tournament. For those of you who don't know, that comes with the glory of a team uniform, the responsibility of continued intense practices, and the more dubious honor of sitting on the bench, usually for the whole game. Last night, the game was close, and Julia watched the whole thing. I was worried when she got in the car; she is used to playing in her games, feeling important on the field or court. When she settled into the back seat, she emoted about who had played well, how Cheray had stepped up her game, how Bridget had shut down the other team's star player, how Sophie had gotten her shot back after some beginning jitters. Julia had no resentment, and shared the note that her coach had passed to her at the beginning of the game where he acknowledged her importance as a member of the team. 

Across the hall from the gym, The Sound of Music was going on in the auditorium, a play that Larkin auditioned for. Forgive me as I am going to sound bitter for a minute, but Larkin was the senior who was cast as Sophia the nun and decided to pass up the part. (Unless you are extremely familiar with The Sound of Music, you are asking who is Sophia. So were we.) Larkin has been in plays all of her life, literally. She has almost always been a lead and has even acted professionally at local theaters and off-Broadway. When the cast list was posted, I'm not going to lie, it was devastating to her since who doesn't want to have a good part in the high school musical when they're a senior? Some of the explanations given for the decision are long stories and not what this post is about, but the background just lets you know how proud I was that she went to the play. She was honest and clear with me that going was hard, she only stayed until intermission, but she went, and I don't think that any of her friends had any idea of how hard that was for her. I did.

Sometimes, life is about cheering and not about being the star. It's about figuring out who to follow and not leading. It's about how to support people and honor them and step back away from the spotlights. I love to cheer for my girls when they are doing great things, but last night, I was cheering for them for cheering for others. 

Happy 9th day of slicing, everyone! Isn't it amazing how differently we live, watch, and remember when we are slicing?