It seemed innocent a few months ago. We got a glossy flyer in the mail,
heralding the upcoming children's show season at our regional arts center. "Buy
your season tickets!" it said. "Family fun for all!" After a flurry of
discussion with my hubs, we decided that we would give it a whirl. We have a
stack of tickets, one show a month, starting in October, until June 2005. It was
too great of a deal to pass up. I was sorting old photos yesterday, and came
across the Ringling Bros. circus photos from last year. First of all, let me
tell you this: Don't waste your money. It was just awful. Guess how much cotton
candy costs? TEN BUCKS. That's right. For spun sugar. It all came flooding back
to me. My children were more interested in examining the dark recesses of their
seat bottoms with their $15 limited edition souvenir flashlight things than
watching dancing elephants. The pictures don't show children enthralled with
clowns and trapeze artists. They show kids on their knees with flashlights,
inspecting what looks to be the remnants of someone else's ten dollar cotton
candy. A year has gone by, but I'm thinking we may have jumped the gun on the
theater tickets. The shows are supposed to be geared for children 3-12, so we
might be in the clear, but I'm still worried that we are going to spend lots of
quality time in the lobby. I registered my son for preschool this week. He
starts in October. I'm still not sure he's ready. I spoke to the teachers about
his 97% success ratio on the potty, and they said that peer pressure was just
the ticket. This seems suspect to me, because I was assured that my oldest, the
nose-picker, would be cured by the preschool social strata, and instead found
herself the leader of a whole little tribe of gold-diggers. Mercy. Kindergarten
is two weeks away, and I'm getting nervous. And judging from the 'tidbits' my
oldest has volunteered to perfect strangers, I have every right. My favorite was
when she parked herself next to the mother of one of her fellow preschoolers and
announced "Daddy hurt his back trying to wash his butt in the shower."
Ahahahaha. The mom held it together nicely. I laughed all the way home. I cringe
to think what she'll be saying about me. The hubster is off to Chicago for the
night, so I better go get him packed.