Today is day 20 of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge began with A on April 1 and continues the alphabet throughout the
month, except on Sundays. My theme for the month will be this blog’s tagline: life, books, and all things bookish, so you can expect a little bit of this ‘n that. I’m still reading, though, and I’ll add reviews whenever possible. Thirty days of blogging is a huge commitment for me, but I’m looking forward to meeting and greeting new blog friends.
Today’s word: Teenagers
Let’s face it–teenagers get a bad rap. And some of the traits they exhibit, can be maddening. They speak before they think … way too often. (And act before they think, too–it’s that frontal lobe thing.) They can be single-minded to a fault–usually about a love interest or social media rather than studying for school, though. They can be incredibly shallow, focusing waaaaay too much energy on looks. They sleep. A lot.
But here’s the cast of my high school musical (hey … that might make a great TV show!) Suessical the Musical. These kids–pretty typical drama kids all–worked long hours in practice after school and at home learning their lines, the music, timing, and footwork. I’ve had nearly half of the kids in the cast and I am always blown away when I see them in another light, somewhere other than a seat in B209. In those seats I do see the annoying traits I mentioned. So I coax and nudge and admonish them into reading Lord of the Flies more carefuly or revising their Works Cited page just one more time.
But this afternoon I just smiled. There’s at least two who are pretty sick. You wouldn’t know it from the performance, though. They sparkled. More than a few of their families live a shave too close to having enough to get by. A few deal with baby siblings in their lives, Mom or Dad having started over. You’d never guess how many of them are incredibly shy in the classroom. One is an exchange student from a country about eighteen hours away by plane.
So, yeah, even I complain about teens’ loudness, their brashness, their cockiness. At the end of the play day, though, they are truly a joy.
This is my symphony 