Parents Are Groovy

Last night I did a show at a studio I attended in college. It was a good experience. The whole thing was a little trippy in a way because I was by far perhaps the oldest one there. Translated, the place was chalk full of Millennials. Yes, that is the name of this generation. I am not sure what my generation was, but I think I missed the cut by a few years.

There are some older folks who have nothing but destain for Millennials. However, my experiences with them have always been positive. I find Millennials to be creative, not afraid to push the boundary for change, but ultimately kinder than my very wicked generation. They are a softer, gentler version of us because they are the ones cracking down on bullying. All and all, not bad.

The show was good and the performers were all quite supportive. Plus the young woman hosting the show worked really hard. When I say she did a good job, she did a good job. I have produced enough in my life to know how hard it was.

Anyway, after the show I was talking to this brother and sister, Americans raised in London, trying to do the whole comedy thing in New York. The sister realized she had pit stains when she was performing which is like an “AHHHHHH!!!!!” for a woman. I had pit stains in my high school year book. Pit stains immortalized  forever. After a TV show I did a high school classmate said she remembered my yearbook picture. Was this the one with the pit stains……hope not.

Anyway, she told me in her high school year book her school mates did a mean thing to her. I reassured her that while people were mean in high school sometimes it was because they were going through things. And we all grow up. It’s weird telling that to someone who’s only 20, but as you get older, certain things just come to you.

However, one thing about young people is that they are pretty profound sometimes. I was talking to the brother’s girlfriend. The subject of parents came up as I was talking about my puppets saying they were like my children. While I am aware my puppets are not human, they need clothes et all. I said while I loved children, I was in no hurry to have any of my own. Then she said, “You know, as a teen I was such a brat sometimes and my parents kind of put up with it.”

We both agreed. We were probably brats as kids. And somehow, our parents put up with it. We both opined that kids are thankless creatures and our parents probably deserved a reward. However, because they were supportive, even when we were bratty, she summed it up, “Parents can be pretty cool sometimes.”

My parents are crazy. I will not lie. Yet at the same time they are also amazing. When I had to move in a hurry, my parents generously floated me the money, no questions asked. During my court proceedings with my landlord, my dad didn’t yell at me or blame me. Instead, he was right by the phone despite his busy schedule to answer my legal questions. The weekend after I moved, my mom flew up to help. Tickets were not cheap that weekend, but she was there anyway. She spent money I don’t know that she had getting me set up in my new place. Before she looked, my room went from box city to a small palace fit for a Princess Pan like myself.

That same weekend, I found out a yearly test I had came back abnormal, and there was a suspicion of cancerous cells. I was afraid, and I was cursing my mom for picking the worst weekend to come. But it was the best weekend actually. There were times I cried my little eyes out that weekend, and I just didn’t want my mom to stress me out. Actually, she was nothing short of supportive and comforting. We called my sister who’s a doctor and she told me it was going to be no big deal. The test turned out benign, but my mom was on the phone with me from that weekend until the test was completed. I don’t know what I would have done had she not come to town.

Mind you, I was nervous about my mom meeting my housemates but they hit it off famously, so much so they wanted her to redo their rooms and didn’t want her to leave. They say she is welcome back anytime.

Both my parents have been very generous with both my siblings’ weddings. When my brother got married, they rented a huge house and had mini parties in between the wedding and day after. During the ceremony, my dad found out that my brother and his wife had been ashamed to ask him for the money to cover the bar tab, and wanted to make it cash only. My dad, suspecting this was done because they were out of funds and didn’t calculate, covered the bar tab day of.  Not to mention he gave a funny speech day of the rehearsal dinner.

As for my sister’s wedding, my mom and I, assisted by my aunt’s, threw her a wicked bachelorette party. While her wedding is rather big, my parents are doing it out of love. My sister will be a lovely bride and we will all be there to support her, even if the wedding nearly kills all of us in the process.

As for me, not getting married anytime soon. But a year ago, this little reality star became eligible to join SAG-AFTRA. I didn’t know whether or not to join, but my mentor pushed me. She said it would make a difference, and it did. To join is a small fortune, and I thought about getting the loan which the interest rate was quite high. My mom kept offering the money but I dodged the question. I was ashamed. I was a big girl. I didn’t want to take her money. Until finally, I told her this. My mom said, “You are making something of yourself. We are happy to give you the money. You didn’t go to grad school and aren’t having a wedding. Take it.”

I did and have been grateful to them ever since. While my heart dropped after dropping $3000, and I got a giant bag of gummy bears to eat afterwards, I was grateful to have my parents.

Mind you they also put three kids through three elite colleges. They somehow have not killed us all, despite my brother’s need to be an eternal scholar and not provide grandchildren. Then there is my Princess Pan-esque life, fairy wings and all. Finally, you have my sister and the wedding, the current family joy and drama all in one breath.

Tomorrow I am doing a superhero themed puppet show for a little boy named October. His mother is doing this because he is 2 and loves superheroes. Her house will be filled with toddlers, but this is what he loves. Superheroes. It is just a testament to how eternally patient this woman probably is, and how dizzy she will probably feel by the end of the day. But we do these things for children because we love them. Even if it is at the expense of our own insanity.

Mind you, my landlord’s kids have been behaved lately. Both seem on track again, but he has to stay on them because they are of the age. They don’t like it now but will appreciate him later. Sigh, what headaches we give our parents.

My dad expressed interest in joining facebook. I'm scared. I hope he doesn't friend request me. Actually, it would be funny if he was my friend. He would leave snarky comments on all my posts and would probably be more popular than me. He would leave mean comments on my blogs, but  I would just have to let it go. My mom threatened to start commenting on my facebook threads. Oh what the hell. I don't want to complain too much because no one lives forever. 

Did I mention parents are groovy?