I’d really like to write about the end of the school year and how the kids have grown and learned so much, or about how the nice weather has finally made summer seem like a reality and we should spend more time outdoors enjoying creation. But if you haven’t noticed, the playoffs are going on. What playoffs? Haven’t you been paying attention? It’s playoff time for the Blackhawks, who, as I write this, are in the Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Kings. The winner will take on either the Boston Bruins or the Pittsburgh Penguins for the Stanley Cup later this month. At our house, we’re watching every game possible, with Tony and I in our assigned seats (the seats we happened to be in when the Blackhawks beat the Detroit in Game 5 of their semifinal series, which was a major turning point, for those of you who have not been following the action), Frank on the living room floor and Teresa seeing what mayhem she can cause when everyone else is otherwise occupied. Caroline, not really a big sports fan, generally stays out of the room, watching videos and communicating with friends over various electronic devices. Of course, when Caroline has performances, we spend our time driving her to and from rehearsals and making sure that someone is there every night; one or both of us often make it to several performances of the same show. And when she’s not performing, we watch and read and talk about other shows with her. It’s all part of the fun of having kids. If it wasn’t for Frank’s interest in hockey, I wouldn’t care nearly so much about the NHL playoffs. I might know who Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews were, but Bryan Bickell? Maybe not. But Frank has a Bickell autograph on a souvenir hat from when his team skated at the United Center three years ago, and in any case, any hockey fan can tell you you need bodies in front of the net, and that’s what Bickell does. I got interested because Frank is, and I’m having a wonderful time. In much the same way, I can now have a much more intelligent conversation about the different styles of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Sondheim, and what their respective strengths are, not only from listening to Caroline, but from listening to their shows with her. She’s opened up entirely new worlds to me. I can’t wait to see what Teresa develops an interest in. Because while I can name all the characters on “Dora the Explorer,” I can’t say I really share her interest in talking maps and mixed-language pro-social plot development. “God so loved the world …” John 3:16 starts out. Maybe, just maybe, one of the reasons God loves people so much that he would become one, and then die to save us, is because he finds us as fascinating as we find our children. He might enjoy seeing just what we come up with, from games that involve hitting a moving projectile with a long stick while skating on ice to a form of storytelling that uses song and dance to illuminate the deepest of human emotions.