The End of an Era

It all began for me in March 2006. Our family was attending a small birthday party at a friend's house when the Ocho disappeared to play upstairs with her friend Selah who had older cousins visiting. After cake and presents, all the girls disappeared upstairs to play. We could hear music coming from the room but thought little of it.

After an hour or so, all four girls came into the room to announce they had a dance routine all worked up for our entertainment. All the adults settled in for the show and for the first time in my life I heard the three words that would alter the landscape of my relationship with my daughter forever.

High School Musical.

I remember the way Nicole's sister rolled her eyes at us when we said we'd never heard of it. "You've never heard of it?" she asked us with equal amounts of mocking and pity in her voice. Ummm. No. Of course, now I realize how pathetic that must have sounded. The movie had debuted months earlier on the Disney Channel and millions of kids all over the world were already caught up in Wildcat hysteria. But not us. Not yet anyway.

The older girls explained that their dance was from a "really cool movie" on Disney and the song was their favorite. For the rest of the night I could not get the words "Bop to the Top" out of my head. It was a sign of things to come.

The next weekend I decided to see what all the buzz was about and headed to Blockbuster to rent the movie. We settled in as a family one Saturday night and neither Handiman nor myself expected to be anything other than mildly entertained. About 15 minutes in, both the Ocho and I were hooked. And Handiman's words were "Wow. That was actually entertaining!" No kidding.

So here we are, 3 years, 2 sequels, 5 soundtrack and DVD purchases, 3 t-shirts, 2 posters, 1 calendar, 1 ice show, 1 hat, 1 Sharpay Halloween costume and 100's of re-run viewings later. And we're still singing along.

It's hard now to even imagine that there was a time in my life as a parent that I didn't know the names Troy, Gabriella or Sharpay. Thanks to them I don't have to teach my daughter lessons about the importance of doing what you love and not following the crowd. Not to mention how karaoke can change your life. They've already done it for me.

And now the end is near and I'll confess I'm a little upset about it. Of all the things that October 2008 has brought us, this Friday's premier of HSM3 has been the most anticipated event of all at our house. We purchased our tickets 2 weeks ago on Fandango. We bought the soundtrack on Tuesday and have been practicing incessantly on the way to school so we can memorize every word. This, of course, is done to further enhance our viewing experience as well as plant that seed of fear in the Ocho's mind that I just might break out full-on into "Now or Never" when the movie rolls. I want to be prepared just in case the mood strikes me.

And just in case you think I'm doing all this because I'm a great mom who just wants to make her daughter happy, think again. I'm pretty sure I'd go see it without her. But it will be nice to use her as a decoy for my mildly-obsessive fandom.

It's hard for me to think about this being the end of the East High Wildcats. And I'm not ashamed to admit I might tear up at the sight of those kids in their caps and gowns. After all, they've been like family. They have given me and the Ocho some great shared memories that we'll carry with us forever. You can rest assured that Handiman and I will be torturing the Ocho with our rendition of "Breaking Free" for years to come.

I'll be sure to check back in on Saturday with a full report and review of the movie. It's gonna be A Night to Remember.