Well, dear readers. It has been a while. More than a month! That may be a record. Life has been busy. In the last month we have had family over from overseas, I have started a new job, we have dealt with dreadful germs infiltrating the bodies of both me and my husband (we had to tag team bed days to attempt some kind of normalcy for missy and said family) and we continue the futile attempts to sell our old apartment. It has been a struggle. Nevertheless, we must continue on, and what a way to do that than take a two-year-old to her first show. No, really. It’s delightful!
Next: Today I was a bad mum
When first one of my beautiful mothers’ group friends put the callout to attend Peppa Pig Live I was equally horrified and shocked. After all, this was the friend who shunned the plastic toys, and rolled her eyes at cartoon characters on clothing. Nevertheless, there it was, an invite for the lot of us to attend *gulp* Peppa Pig Live. The invitation came two months before the show so I didn’t think much of saying yes.
Then the day arrived. Missy woke up talking about seeing Peppa. Everything we did in the lead-up to seeing the show that day was done through bribery of seeing Peppa. My kid doesn’t even watch Peppa! It was insane.
We got to the theatre ridiculously early (as always seems to be the case with me), so missy and I watched some workmen doing some electrical work by the footpath – actually, this might have been more entertaining than the show itself – while we waited for our friends to arrive. As we waited I saw more and more excitable toddlers streaming past me. Pushers small and large. Twins. Big kids. Babies. Grandmas. Nannies. Everyone. Actually, it’s possible that every single child in Melbourne was in that auditorium. I actually felt the oxygen leaving my body as a panic attack threatened – I wish I was joking when I say that.
Then, the friends arrived. Five little toddlers and one beautiful baby, toddling through the centre of Melbourne, and one excitable two-year-old meeting them. It was incredible. The six toddlers climbed/crawled the staircase together. We found our seats at the top of the dress circle (thank goodness for small mercies, we were at the back!) and the show began.
Before this, I had absolutely no idea how my daughter would cope in this situation. Turns out, a bit like a pig in, well … you know (I had to do it, it’s a Peppa piece). I was so proud of the little tykes, jumping up and down to the music, not even questioning the, frankly, ridiculous puppetry and the people wearing black walking around the stage while holding Peppa and friends.
I even found myself laughing as George and Peppa were given the rockstar treatment from adoring toddlers (alas, no nappies thrown on stage – is that joke just too wrong?!). It was, I have to admit, kinda fun.
Of course, after an interval (you can imagine how well that went down with six two-year-olds) the kids were pretty much done. Our little angels decided a bit of running around, some chatting, some snacking were all acceptable theatre behaviour. But, given we were in the back row, it didn’t really matter. And, while I certainly wouldn’t rush to see another show before missy develops a bit more of an attention span (and my fear of so many children in one space subsides), I’m glad we did it. It was so much fun to watch six little friends enjoy themselves, and I found myself, once again, feeling so grateful for the amazing group of women that I have only known for two years, but whom I count among my favourite people.
Related: Is your mothers’ group evil?
musingmummablog 