First mate's log:
January 14, 1974
Peter's latest update on the Jan-talent situation is that he and his other siblings are letting her win at games around the house, from checkers to ping-pong. They're trying to build up her confidence. I'm worried it'll backfire, like when Bobby's sisters each tried to make him think he'd grown half an inch, or worse, the time that the Bradys tried to boost Marcia's confidence when she thought she was miscast as Juliet. Or the time that people tried to make me feel like a hero by letting me think I could rescue them.
At the same time, I don't know. I'm still happy to listen, but maybe it's that I'll be a father in a few months. It's harder for me to just give advice. I don't "know best" and even when I see the Brady kids doing something wrong, I kind of understand why sometimes their parents seem to just let them figure things out on their own.
Mary Ann and I have talked about it, and we're going to encourage our kids to try different things, from making their own mistakes to finding their talents. I mean, we'll guide and protect them, but we don't want to pressure them. Like, the Professor is really trying to steer his sons towards science, and Ginger is teaching them dance routines, but I don't know that any of the Hinkley boys are interested in following either of their parents' careers.
Mary Ann would like to teach our kid or kids how to cook, but just as a basic life skill. I'm still not sure what I'm good at, or "what I want to be when I grow up," other than a good person. Mary Ann says that's enough, but it doesn't sound like much to me. Well, I can at least teach everything I know about movies and comic books.
Carol Brady's diary:
January 16, 1974
I'm encouraging Jan to audition for the latest school play. Miss Goodwin told me about it, although I wasn't on the play committee this time. It's an original work by Ginger actually, as a favor to the school. It's about a starving American artist in Paris, and Jan is trying out for the lead. The audition is only a couple days away, so she's got to quickly learn the lines for that scene. I know, she hasn't done much acting, other than things like Happy in our production of Snow White, and of course palace guard with Peter in Romeo & Juliet, but that doesn't mean that this might not be her hidden talent. She's sensitive and intelligent, which are good qualities in an actress.
Yes, I'm helping her rehearse, as I did when Cindy was the Fairy Princess years ago. Mike is unable to help because he's spending every spare moment either in the kitchen or at the supermarket, buying ingredients for Saturday. He won't tell me or Alice or anyone what he's decided on, so some of these practice recipes may be decoys. He's not serving the results to us but instead takes them over to the Blenford Soup Kitchen. Which is sweet and generous, but, yes, no one there is likely to complain about his cooking.
January 18, 1974
Peter got to work late today because he stayed after school to watch Jan's audition for a school play that Ginger wrote. Yeah, I would automatically go see it, like I went to Marcia and Cindy's ballet recital, even though I don't really care about ballet. But Peter said Jan bombed the audition. She kept forgetting her lines or saying them at the wrong moments.
And she was actually painting during the scene, to get into the character of a painter more. She accidentally spilled paint on the boy she was auditioning with. She got upset and ran off. Peter would've gone after her, but he had to get over to the Pizza Parlor. I told him that it was good that he went to support her, but he's worried that she'll feel even more embarrassed that he witnessed her humiliation.
Oh, as for the thing of him and the other Brady kids letting her win at games, their parents pointed out that that wasn't really fair to Jan. (Yeah, they do step in when they need to. I'll try to remember that when I'm a father.) So Greg confessed, and she said it proved that her brothers and sisters think she's not good at anything. I'm glad she was able to regain enough confidence to audition, and sad that it didn't work out.
January 20, 1974
Poor Jan bungled her audition, as Peter told me in excruciating detail when he got home from his after-school shift at the Pizza Parlor. Jan herself was late getting home, which worried me, until she arrived ten minutes after Peter.
After the audition, she ran off to the jungle! Yes, she could've gotten hurt or lost, although it's not as dangerous as it was before Mr. Howell had so much of the island developed. She ran into Kurt the Jungle Boy and told him her troubles. Oddly enough, he told her she shouldn't run away from her problems, even though he lives in what's left of the wilderness.
So she went back to the school to get the painting she'd left behind. (With our shared love of art, I encouraged her to throw herself into the character with a touch of realism. I didn't know that she was going to spill some paint on poor Billy Garst, who was playing the French landlord.) To her surprise, Miss Goodwin was still at the school and wanted to talk to her.
She comforted Jan about the audition, although Jan of course didn't get the role. However, she was very impressed by Jan's painting and is encouraging her to take art lessons on Blenford. I completely support that idea, and Jan is excited about it. She told me she's been interested in painting ever since she was a very little girl and Alexandri Gregor Dubov was on the island.
And I remember the little girl who used to build impressive sandcastles. Maybe she'll become a sculptor or at least do something with the visual arts. Maybe not for a living and maybe just as hobbies, like I have. But I'm so happy for her that she's found a talent she can pursue.
As for Mike, well, he is a more talented chef than I expected. His sumptuous dinner tonight was delicious. However, he's too much of a perfectionist to do this on a regular basis.