The year is 2045. The dastardly Beep-Boop colony is on the way to suck out the brains of the earth’s greatest astronauts! Only one person can save them, Eva the Alien. Only… there is no Eva to be seen. Instead, Edie (aged 6) was curled up in a ball on the ground crying.
A week before their final performance, one of my classes had their last rehearsal for their play, ‘Moon Wars.’ They were performing in front of a small group of friends. Edie, who plays Eva the Alien, was overwhelmed and nervous speaking in front of her peers and did not make it on stage. As we all know, standing up on stage in front of people can be daunting (even for this Marrzipan self-confidence coach!) As the Marrzipan philosophy is to encourage and not to force, I said Edie’s lines on stage for her and she watched from backstage.
After class, I had a chat with Edie and then explained the situation to Edie’s mum, Sarah. Sarah told me that “although Edie absolutely loves Marrzipan, for this usually confident child, getting up and speaking in front of a group was just too much.” I wanted Edie to still be included and to demonstrate her hard work throughout the term, so I suggested that Edie could sit with her mum and say her lines from the audience. Sarah liked this suggestion and took it to a whole new level! Sarah decided that she “couldn’t let this little blip ruin Edie’s love of Marzipan” so she came up with a brilliant idea.
One week later, SHOWTIME! Once again the terrifying Beep-Boop colony was on their way! But this time, it was Sarah, not Eva, who came to save the day! Not only was Edie dressed head to toe as a bright green alien, but Super-Sarah had brought her very own alien outfit! Sarah carried Edie around the stage, completing the other half of an extraordinary extraterrestrial dynamic duo!
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! Eva, piggy-backing off of her mother walks in and shouts in her loudest voice: “STOP THEY’RE GOING TO EAT YOU!”
Sarah has reflected that she, “was glad to do it! It totally made the difference to Edie’s confidence and made the performance a positive experience for her.”
No matter how many classes I teach, or how often I encourage students to find their voice, nothing can replicate the power of parental role-modeling. Sarah stood up and showed Edie that it’s okay to be weird. It’s okay to be nervous. It’s okay to stand up in a room full of people dressed in a full green outfit- especially when you need to save the day against the dastardly Beep-Boop colony!
In a play full of aliens, it was Sarah’s parenting that was truly out of this world.
