Light's Out! Mid morning, around 11AM the lights went out at our home, which happens to be my office too. The predicted windy rain storm came. With gusts up to 60 MPH it was inevitable that we would loose power. Thankfully I had a full battery on my laptop and a little gadget from Verizon to access the Internet. I checked PG&E and discovered there were hundred and hundreds of power outages across California. Well, all this gave me a reason to get a new generator for the show (that we can use for home emergencies too). It's not gigantic, only 3650 watts. But it will keep the electrical part of the furnace running and allow us access to TV for Titus and for us to get news. The ironic thing, but somewhat predictable is that literally five minutes after getting it all set up and running the power came back on!
Princess Olivia is five years old and is tiny. So our 34" dance lyra (standard is 36") was too big for her. Her tiny little arms could barely reach across. So I contacted the man who builds these things for us and he made her a custom 27" lyra.....in spite of the cold and rain we set it up between showers and Olivia gave it a test run.
World's greatest Mom: Some of you might be moms. Well, I would like to introduce to you “Super Mom”. Her name is Mami Kent, born in Osaka, Japan 45 years ago I doubted her parents knew the significance of naming her Mami (pronounced mommy.) She and fell in love with the English language as a child so her parents sent her to schools where she could learn to speak English. From preschool to university she studied the language. She won a scholarship from her university to go to America to study for a year. It was during that year that we met at SF State University. I knew by our second date that we would be married. Two years later we were and on our honeymoon we conceived our first child. Over the next 17 years we would have a total seven kids. James (21), Cynthia (19), Miles (16), Titus (13, and disabled), Victor (9), Amelia (7),and Olivia (5). (It would had been nie kids but her last two pregnancies ended in miscarriages.) Mami is 45 and we live in California part of the time and Kentucky or the road the rest of the time. We’ve been married 22 years!
If the shear number of kids alone isn’t enough to qualify her for the title of greatest Mom then read on.
Our family performs a small magic-circus-vaudeville show that travels all over the US and sometimes ventures outside the borders. We most often perform at fairs and festivals but sometimes do theaters, churches, and the like. At home she is already a superstar homeschooling two of the kids and taking care of our disabled son Titus who cannot walk nor talk (he has no fine motor control and is still in diapers)while running the household and taking care of the rest of us. Though the older kids help her so much with Titus and the household chores, it is our super mom that holds the family unit together and makes our house a home. On tour she has to pack a smaller version of the house into our RV and manage to teach the kids, take care of Titus, and cook the meals. Since I have to take care of the long drives, show setup and performances, not to mention the business end of it all so she manages the family and the domestic duties on the road. I shouldn’t forget to mention that she even performs in the show.
To give you an idea of a typical day on the road I will elucidate. We may pull into a town, find the venue, and start the show set up at what could be any time of the day. Regardless, Mami takes charge of the family matters and gets Titus’s diaper changed, and the little ones out of the way of the unloading. She may be cooking a meal, finding a DVD for Titus to watch and doing a lesson plans for the kids all at once. If someone gets a bump or bruise she is called in as a nurse at the same time. If we are in a tight pinch for time she may even throw in with the older kids and I and help with the unloading and setup. Then she makes sure everyone is fed and ready to go out on stage. In the midst of all this she will get Titus into his costume ( we have even developed some fun routines for him) and herself into her costume. Then she keeps Titus happy backstage (being disabled he sometimes doesn’t have patience to just wait.) The she meets her cue or Titus’ cue, they do their routines and before you know it she is back into her smock either getting the next meal ready, lesson plan prepared, or taking Titus for a walk (she pushes him around the venue in his wheelchair) to keep him happy. I mentioned the costumes. You know she made many of the costumes and her and I both share the duties of seamstress when costumes tear or get damaged. Mami also has an integral part of the show design and routine ideas. After the shows and bedtime approaches she gets the little ones ready for bed. That is no simple task with Titus. He is nearly the same height has her and is very strong. We all help her the best we can. Converting the RV from daytime to nighttime use is always a task. Then, when all have been bedded down she finally takes time for herself. She is often first to wake and last to bed. Super-woman; super mom!
I should mention her cooking here. I know in today’s modern world some women don’t like to be defined by domestic deeds. But Mami is one of the most creative fantastic cooks alive. Being performers we sometimes have cold months, sometimes referred to as “famine” months. During these lean times over the years she has learned to take $100 and turn it into a month of great meals. It amazes me. And her baking is out of this world. I mentioned that by our second date I knew I was going to marry her. On that date she gifted me a tin with nutcracker artwork on it ( it was near Christmas) filled with five different kinds of cookies, fancy cookies. It must have taken her hours to make. On top of that she backed me an apple pie from scratch. The pie had a weaved crust with my name and a heart in raised crust. She had cut out the letters and heart in crust doe and put them on the weaved curst! The way to my hear was definitely through my stomach. ( A blessing and a curse. ) On each of the kids’ birthdays she bakes each of them a special something. For example, she makes my eldest daughter a jewelry box made completely out of homemade sugar cookies (like a gingerbread house) and inside the box with it’s working lid she places rings, bracelets, and necklaces made out of cookies but looks like toy jewelry. Another example is the cakes she makes for my second youngest. Amelia is into piggies. So every year Mami makes a different unique Pig cake or giant pig cookie. She somehow even manages to make these special confections while we are traveling using the tiny RV oven. On top of the special deserts for their birthdays she also cooks them their favorite dishes for their birthdays. Remember, seven kids, seven times a year (eight counting me) she bakes a special desert that often takes painstaking time and a special meal EVEN while on the road.
Traveling with a show is daunting on it’s own. Doing it with small kids and a disabled son on top of it all is down right crazy. But out of this insanity Mami brings it altogether and makes it work. She is a super mom and super wife.
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