I could not make it to practice this week, and I felt really bad about leaving Oliver to fend for himself. Luckily Corinne and I set up a call to discuss a plan of action after the rough week before (why Corinne didn’t feel like helping earlier… who knows, but better late than never). She planned to sit in on at least the beginning of practice to keep things under control, so I hope things went smoothly for Oliver. Corinne and I went over some potential disciplinary tactics and ways of handling certain bad behaviors. It was nothing very inventive, but I was glad to know we’d have her help and support in the final weeks before the show.

A late post about a rough Thursday two weeks past:

I was totally not having this practice. Oliver and I were reassigned to a new room. Clearly the Youth Life coordinators put little thought into what sort of room would be conducive to practice theatre. It was a regular class room with tables and chairs, but it was too cramped to reposition any of the furniture, so there went our stage space!  Also the move proved to be way too distracting for the kids. No one was cooperating. Strange kids were banging on the door and interrupting us.  Everyone was having side conversations. People were being rude and disrespectful to each other. I decided I was over it, stopped giving instructions and gave up on them for the day. It was disappointing and defeating. I was honestly just tired of trying. They are two practices out from performance day and shouldn’t be acting like this.