The Things You Do For Your Kids

I picked Anthony up from school a few minutes after the end of school. He talked with the track coach after school about joining track now that soccer season is over. He'll practice after school on Mondays and during first period every day (his scheduled soccer class). This is also when he broke the news to me that he wanted to videotape Patrick and me. What?!!

You see, I can't act. I have a hard time lying or even pretending to be something I'm not. I've tried to do skits when I was at school, and I failed miserably. Then there's the whole performance anxiety thing. Well, apparently Anthony had to put together a PSA or Public Service Announcement and his chosen topic is Suicide Prevention. As an aside, he has become very aware of some of the most talked about public issues and he doesn't shy away from them. Apparently also, he wrote a "script" of sorts describing parents sobbing in front of their house with an ambulance rolling by and a funeral scene. He didn't realize he had to also film this "script" until last Friday.

Of course our first question was "Do we have to be in it?" Anthony insisted that he needed adults in his video. There were none available at school so he had to wait until he got home so he could make Patrick and me play the part of the parents. Our next question was "Why didn't you do this on the weekend, when you had time to play hours of PS3?"

So, after lots of laughter from Patrick and me, we went outside on our front steps and he filmed us consoling each other. He purposely left the front door slightly ajar. Unfortunately, we needed several takes because either Patrick and I couldn't stop laughing, or one of the kids would run around inside the house so they could be seen through the open door (like Alex with a blanket over his shoulders), or Eric would peek out of the open door and let out a scary growl, etc. I got several bug bites in the meantime. I was thrilled. He also had to film us with Patrick's face more toward the camera so my face could be hidden because I could not keep a straight face. At least some of the shaking from laughter could be interpreted as sobbing.

For the funeral scene, he asked us to dress in black. In the meantime, he put up a sheet in the front hallway that he planned to later digitally erase and put in a different scene as a background. Natalie was eager to help. Did I mention that this is for his Mixed Media class? Anyway, we were supposed to cry and look upset. I had to blow my nose anyway after having been outside, so I used a tissue as a prop. I removed my contact lenses ahead of time so I could rub my eyes convincingly. Anthony reassured us he was only going to shoot us from the waist up. I wore a black dress, so it didn't matter. Patrick wore his shirt, tie, and dark coat with his shorts underneath.

Patrick and I are used to carting around the kids to various activities, helping with projects and homework, and that sort of stuff. This acting stuff is really above and beyond. Anthony appreciated our efforts. He definitely owes us.