A Behind-the-Scenes Look

Sometimes, being a parent feels like taking on the role of a production assistant to the Talent’s starring role, or being an executive admin, feverishly working behind the scenes to support the top brass and ensure their big event goes off without a hitch.

The other day, I found myself running from one corner of the city to the other to get stocking stuffers for my kids, and then planning out exactly how I’d plant them in the stockings, clue my kids in to their existence, and then connect the dots to create a plausible story (“… the window we found open this morning … that must explain it! …”)

Don’t get me wrong - it’s a position I’m honored to be in, and I’ve for sure had my time in the starring role. (I miss that, by the way!) By sharing this with my kids I’m not looking for credit for hard labor done (I previously wrote about that here 😉); this kind of work is kind of enjoyable. More than anything I think it would be fun to give them a little bit of a sneak peek behind the curtains, to see the work that gets put in to pull of these experiences, whether they’re of the magical (e.g. doing the legwork attributed to a mythical creature) or logistical (e.g. orchestrating a week of vacation camps that fit the budget, the schedule and everyone’s interests) variety.

So if you’ve ever felt like some kind of support staff, scrambling behind the scenes to make your kids’ lives a little more interesting, share it with them in a note. What’d you have to do to set the stage? How did they enjoy the show? Eventually, when your tower of lies about egg-laying bunnies and tooth-obsessed nocturnal intruders comes tumbling down, once they get over the initial sting of betrayal, they’ll at least be able to add a richer dimension to these already sweet childhood memories.