Sunday, March 4, 2012

Catch The Beat?


Those of us with kids in the 2-7 age bracket will appreciate this.....

Some days it's hard enough to listen to the same program over and over and over again, especially when the songs are always the same and the jokes are kinda lame.  So, I am not sure what came over me when I begged Jim to buy tickets for us to take the girls to see The Fresh Beat Band Live.  Wow.  Hundreds of screaming children (and parents)...but let's start at the beginning.

We decided not to tell the girls that we were going because I didn't want to listen to a day of, "Is it time yet?" or "When are we leaving?".  It ranks right up there with "Can we open presents now?" on Christmas.  We showed up at the theater, and there was no outside signage, so they still had no idea.  We walked inside the Akoo Theater (formally the Rosemont Theater) and there was a HUGE banner right in our way.  I looked at Lilli and asked her if she knew what is was that we were doing.  She asked if we were going to see a Fresh Beat movie.  I said no, we were going to see their concert.  She looked at me like I had lost my mind.  "Are they really going to be here?"  I told her yes, that they would be on the stage and singing live.  I don't think it sunk in; she asked about 10 more time if they were really here.  Abigail just didn't get it at all....she just clung to my hand and followed close.  We made a quick stop in the bathroom (because they always have to check out the bathrooms in a new place, I think it's a rule they made up to torture me), bought the over-priced blinking-do-hickey that I wanted to hide within 5 minutes, and settled into our seats.  Great seats.  We were on the balcony, the first row of the second section.  Extra leg room, and no one directly in front of the girls to block their view. Phew...

The show started about 10 minutes late (awesome), and when they Fresh Beats finally came out and started singing and dancing and doing their thing, what did my girls do?  They sat there.  They sat as still as I wished they would sit through Easter mass.  No clapping.  No singing.  Heck, Jim and I were clapping and singing to try and get them into it...and little to nothing.  Uggg!!!  I finally dragged Abigail onto my lap, and clapped her hands for her.  When did they get into it?  The song before intermission.  Awesome.  At least for the second half they were slightly more pumped and danced around a little.  In between each song, though, Abigail asked me if it was time to go home.  Home?  Sister, do you know what I paid for these tickets?  We are staying for the whole dang thing.  (However, when we did get home I took her temp and it was 100.0.  Good job, Mom of the Year.)

So, what did I learn from this experience?

A.  Bring Cash.  Parking was $20 and they only took cash.  (what a rip-off).
2.  Bring more cash.  We were able to get into a shorter line for the light up do-hickeys because we paid in cash.
c.  A concert is only as much fun as you make it out to be.  When I started to enjoy the show myself, clap and sing and respond to their questions, the girls got more comfortable.
IV.  I am not doing that again for at least a year.

"We had a great day.  It was a super way to spend some time together.  We had a great day.  The very best day.  And nothing could be better."   ~  The Fresh Beat Band