On Monday, my nine-year old, Maritza, mentioned that she wanted to make a video entry for Disney’s uRock contest. The submission deadline was Sunday. I promised that we would do it on Friday night or Saturday.
Now, there’s a long time between Monday and Friday, so while I try to keep my promises, I can’t say that I always do. On Friday night, while joking around with Maritza and Simone, we talked about the goings on of the week. Maritza had a strange look on her face, as if she wanted to say something.
She said that she didn’t.
I brought it up a few more times, and each time she insisted that there was nothing she was holding back.
I wasn’t convinced.
Later, I remembered and rushed into her bedroom.
“I’ve got it! I know what it is. You wanted to ask about the video, right?”
She confirmed my guess.
It seems that she was worried that I was too tired from work to help her with the video.
“We’ll do it tomorrow, for sure.”
I went into Simone’s room and announced my breakthrough:
“I told you. I knew that she wanted to ask me something.”
“Congratulations,” she deadpanned.
Highly tuned perceptive qualities are rarely appreciated by the masses.
On Saturday, we worked on the 40-second video – filming, editing, rendering, previewing, and reediting. It took us several hours to complete. Maritza had full creative control of the process.
You just can’t rush show people.
Enjoy the video!
Ray } – 
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Maritza rocks. Very, very cool video!
Thanks, Wendy. She’s very excited about participating in the contest, as are the thousands of other children who have posted videos. Ray
Cool video! I agree with Wendy – Maritza rocks! I love making videos with my kids. My oldest has done an oral report for kindergarten (I know!) by making a video and last year he did a book report video.
I’m glad you got in touch with your parental ESP and figured out what was bothering her. You probably made her day for remembering to help her. Nobody appreciates that quality like other parents who have had their own breakthroughs.
Hi Tristan, we used to pull out the camcorder to record our oldest and her friends doing their dance routines. My wife would practice with them for days to get their moves down for school talent shows or exhibitions. We haven’t done any videos related to their school work other than a video that I made for Simone’s junior class titled, Job Hunting Tips for Teens. http://raycolon.com/blog/2009/06/07/job-hunting-tips-for-teens/
Yes, the breakthroughs are great, but missing the clues can be awful. I should use my calendar more often. Ray
Maritza is just beautiful and the video rocks! What a good Dad you are in fulfilling your promise and making your daughter happy. In these days in which parents are often too uninvolved in their children’s lives, you have set a fabulous example. Cheers to you both!
Thanks, Cher. I’m just a regular dad, who happened to make this episode public, but I thank you for the kind words. I believe that there are many more involved dads in the world than most people think.
Maritza enjoys reading these comments.
Rock on! Ray
Great video, Dad! You have a very talented daughter!
Thanks blueshrimp,
It’s nice of you to say. Ray
Wow – sorry I missed the party!
Maritza is a very talented young lady, hope she wins!!!
Thanks, Ali. Maritza’s entry wasn’t selected for the next round, but she okay with that. The fun was in the doing.
Ray