“The times, they are a changin” ~ Bob Dylan

I now can truly relate to these words, and I have seen some major changes throughout my life. I don’t know what it is about this move from Texas to South Carolina that has me feeling so upside down? If anything, I have a lot more time to myself because all three of my children are in school. I mean they all are picked up and dropped off by a school bus about five houses down from ours so from the hours of 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. I am pretty much on my own, to do as I please.

Heaven – yes, but something is missing. I have wrestled with the question of “what” that is for a while now and I am sure that I’ve finally come up with the answer.

You see, while we were in Texas my eldest daughter was actively pursuing and continually working on her acting. She went to acting classes weekly, she went out on auditions and she actually shot a few things. All the while I was being her momager and relentlessly searching for more castings and auditions, more workshops, more, more and then some more. I found that I loved being a momager and the excitement of finding an audition or getting her into some awesome workshop was so invigorating for me – it kind of became my drug of choice. I know some of you are rolling your eyes and saying, “Oh, she is one of those crazy stage-mom” sorts of things but I never pushed her into auditions or classes or anything she didn’t want to do. Sometimes I would find a casting, ask her if she wanted me to submit her, she would tell me “no thank you” and I would move onto the next thing. It is more of the “thrill of the hunt” than anything else.

Now let’s move ahead six months, we are nicely settled into our new home and new routines but something is missing – my momager job!

My daughter has now entered high school and has decided to concentrate on playing basketball as well as her tough honors course load. Don’t get me wrong, I played college basketball and coached high school basketball and volleyball so I love the idea that she is working hard on the court but my role has changed significantly. I have become her cheerleader (which I always was and always will be) and am relegated to the stands during game time. She asks me the odd basketball related question but her coach is The BBall Guru, as it should be, and I the untitled mother.

So what shall I do with my new found free time? Well I do volunteer weekly at my younger children’s school, I have joined all sorts of committees and I am upping my exercise regime but there is still something missing – any suggestions?? Anyone have a way to fill this momager-at-heart’s free time? How about a suggestion for how I can find the “high” that came with landing my daughter the perfect audition? I am all ears. Maybe I’ll post an ad on Craigslist reading, “Momager for Hire” or something like that? Who knows what my future will hold.

Update: I hadn’t even submitted my post for editing when my youngest daughter came up to me last night and said, “Mom, I really want to try modeling. Do you think I could?”

Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, god of “momagers with no child to manage” – wink, wink!!

Cari Surch is the momager of young actress Kennedy Surch. You can follow her adventures on twitter http://www.twitter.com/cariscalling

The lovely Surch sisters!