The Drama Princess

Daughter A is a drama princess. (She can't be the queen because I'm the queen of the looniverse.) She holds this title in more ways than one. She IS an actress. She has been since she was about two. I can't remember a time when she didn't know every word to any Disney movie she saw. She created "shows" for us to watch almost daily. She loved to put on costumes and create elaborate plots for the shows. Some of them were even pretty good. She's the second freshman to earn a leading role in a CPHS musical - only the SECOND! Yep, I'm pretty proud of her, and I'm bragging a bit. BUT....

She also has the ability to find drama in situations that others might find a little irritating or possibily even mundane! While theater is her passion, for some reason she feels compelled to run cross country like her brother did. Now DA is not the runner JB is. She's a good runner, but not an exceptional one. She doesn't love it the way he once did. She says she doesn't want to be the only Wilkinson child who is not an athlete - never mind the fact that she is the only one who can get on a stage in front of hundreds of people and sing, dance and act. It seems like running turns into a frustrating drama every day when I pick her up from practice. Something always happens (a fall, an untied shoe, a witchy girl on the team says something, coach yells, a muscle is pulled, a foot hurts, meets are going to interfere with rehearsals, etc.) to make her run miserable. And every day I ask her why she runs if she hates it so much. The whole drama is exhausting for me; I can only imagine how it must be for her.

Today I finally got something other than the stock answer and complaining. She agreed to think (just think) about switching to regular PE next year and focusing on her acting rather than splitting her energy between cross country and theater. I feel so relieved. She'll have to talk it over with her friends, but I think they'll back me. And when she makes her acceptance speech for her first Tony award she'll have to thank me for encouraging her to drop cross country!