Monday November 15, 2010
How many moms have said – or thought – that?
Well, we did it. We live a stone’s throw from Miami, and a lot goes on there. When the boys were little, a fashion merchandiser we know told me she thought the boys had modeling potential.
We had a friend whose mom was an agent, so off we went to visit her. Four redheaded, vivacious boys aren’t easy to forget, and she loved them. She suggested a photographer and we got comps made for the boys.
All in all, it was a great experience for the boys. You hope for the Pampers commercial that pays for college…but that didn’t happen. They probably paid for the cost of their photo comps, gas and tolls, and the donuts treats that followed our outings.
Two of them were in the Dunkin Donuts calendar. Remember the Donut Man – “It’s time to make the donuts”? They posed with him, and he was very sweet. All four were in catalogues and print ads, the oldest had a small part in a movie, and all of the boys were in one commercial together. Nobody got rich. Our little movie actor probably made the most. It went into his savings and was used toward his first car.
But it was a great experience for them.
We went to a concert in Miami last week, and as we drove I thought to myself, “I was crazy to haul four boys down here in a minivan, looking for shoots, trying to find parking, keeping them all together and reasonably happy…”
But they learned a lot from the experience. Here are a few lessons:
1. I’m not always chosen. That doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with me – people are just looking for something different sometimes.
2. Sometimes you have to wait...and wait, and wait. And occupy yourself while you're waiting.
3. Advertising isn’t real; it’s fake. It’s a show. (Valuable lessons as they grew up as little consumers.)
4. It takes all types of people to make up a world. And some are sweet and kind and some are not.
5. The beautiful people on the outside are not always beautiful on the inside. What’s in the heart is what comes out. "For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."
(Luke 6:45)6. It’s what’s inside that’s really important.
Of course, they only learned these lessons as we pointed them out and reinforced them.
But I’m glad we had the opportunity to use those teachable moments. As I remembered those days, I realized I was
thankful for that experience for the boys.
One more thing to be grateful for in this month of gratitude. Those days were challenging, but fun. They learned, they grew. I’m glad we had that experience.
What's an experience you’re glad your kids had? An incident you were able to use as a teachable moment?
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