Is Everything Rented?

The kids were in a commercial. Well, Emma was in the commercial, Nathan mostly just ate a bunch of snacks. And Lilly spent all the time closing herself into all the empty closets in the bathrooms. I watched, no lie, 8 straight hours of Nickelodeon. Sponge Bob to ICarly. I also ate a bunch of snacks. It was like being on an airplane. Strapped to a seat, forced to sit in a small room with people you don't know and food brought on trays every hour or so. I would've gotten out on the set more, but I had to watch the baby. When I took her out to the set she kept climbing ladders or going behind the soundproof walls, or god forbid, talking in a normal voice. Fear and I were hand in hand. Diligence and watchfulness, never my strong suits, were my companions. Exhausting.

The baby, though, can explore everything with gusto. She's thrilled just to find a surprise pocket on your shirt. The girl loves EVERYTHING.

Emma and Nathan both enjoyed the large make up lady who fussed with their hair and faces. They liked the free clothes, the toys, the black guy who ushered them to and from set, the comraderie of new friends. The cables snaking all over the ground, the 22 year old grips and electricians, the director, the rich investor, his 12 year old girlfriend.

I would be doing alot better if people brought snacks around on trays every hour, and someone else made lunch. I could play. The baby and I could hide in closets for hours. The kids could become workaholics. Homework would be for idiots.

At the end of the commercial, Nathan was crying because it was over, and he couldn't believe he had to go back to real life and real school. At night, he kept naming all the people, and asking "Can we go back? Is everything rented?" I had to tell him that the stage was empty now, that all the equipment went back, on rented trucks. Everything was rented. "Even the people are rented?" Yep. I tried to tell him that that's the problem with movie sets, everything looks real, everyone works together and it becomes like a little tribe, and then when it's over, everything is all cleaned up and it's like it never existed. Except that it did. And it was REALLY fun. He couldn't believe that he couldn't just go back. Or that there'd be nothing there when he did. But it's so exciting.

"I want to do another commercial," they both said.

Three days later, they're back in school and the commercial is fading a little bit. It's hard when the funnest thing to do only lasts a short, intense time and is also the hardest gig to get. I've tried to tell them to enjoy the roller scoaster (as Lilly calls it) - life is actually good exactly where you are.