Concert Etiquette...NOT

Last night one of my cute young women was singing a solo at her high school's Christmas concert and I really wanted to go. The problem is I have two small children and a husband that works nights. So my two options were to not go or to bring the kids.

*disclaimer: To my music major/choir conductor friends Amy and Andria, I do understand concert etiquette, I just was thinking about a concert in our church, ya know.?! Last week, I took them to a musical fireside thing and they were great! Besides, there were other kids there and kids make lil' noises here and there, so it wasn't a big deal. So that's what I was thinking. Anyway...

Well, this was one of many concerts this high school puts on during Christmas and this one happened to be downtown at an old Methodist church. When we entered the chapel, we saw Ashlyn's family up in the balcony and they invited us to sit with them. As soon as we sat down, I knew we were in trouble. They were in the first row in the balcony and you moms out there know you need to have another pew in front of you for containment purposes. Toddlers tend to escape.

As the concert began, I also noticed the lovely acoustics. However, I noticed them even more when Danny started yelling "agua-er." Yes, that's Spanglish for "agua" and "water". One of Danny's first words was aqua, because he had a Salvadoran babysitter and has always used that word for water until recently. In the last week or so, he's been using "aqua-er" because he hears us call it "water." My poor confused son.

Back to the concert. So I tried to unsuccessfully to quietly exit the balcony with every sound echoing across the entire room. Gave Danny a little water break and a chance to walk up and down a couple fights of stairs. I then tried to use some concert etiquette and not enter again until they finished the song they were singing. Well, then Danny started to whine for Kealeigh, our little 7 year old neighbor friend, who he saw quietly sitting in the pew. (We brought along our favorite neighbors Kealeigh and her mom and sister Elise.) Tara, the mom, was a big help with Kate during this time.

So anything to keep Danny quiet, we entered again, every sound magnified a million times over. I had him sit on my lap and tried to keep him interested by giving him something to listen for. The conductor had already used some bells in previous songs, so that's what I told him to listen for. Sure enough, the next song gave Danny lots of opportunities to tell me about the bells, much to his own excitement, but the lovely acoustics echoed Danny's two-year old voice around the room as he exuberantly told me "Bell! Bell! Bell!" over and over again.

I was frazzled at this point, and with Kate starting to make baby noises, I decided it be best to pack up and leave. (you're probably wonerding why I didn't do that sooner!) End of concert experience with two kids. Moral of story: Don't do it. :)

Oh, the best part is, just as we left the building and started walking up the street, my cell phone went off. Wouldn't that have been perfect?! Aghhhh!