E has a way of keeping me humble. Just when I start to get a bit smug that I have this parenting thing figured out fairly well something happens to deflate my ego like a sad balloon.
E still has the last bits of a insistent cold and was sort of tired yesterday. He took a long nap but even then I had to go in and wake him up so we could go to see Yo Gabba Gabba live. N had had a crazy day at work but he managed to leave the office a couple hours early so we could make it on time.
When we got to the arena E loved looking around and seeing all the kids and the Yo Gabba Gabba stuff. And then the show started.
At first he was intrigued and even had fun dancing around to the songs. But then they shot confetti into the audience and cranked up the volume and suddenly it was TOO MUCH. E started whimpering and then full-on crying to go home. N took him out into the hall to calm down and would bring him back into the arena where he was alternatively fascinated and terrified. After about twenty minutes or so he was still asking to go to the car.
So we gave up and left the arena. As soon as we walked outside E started crying again and asking to go back to the show.
The drive home was lame. I was frustrated and sad, N was frustrated and grumpy, and E was frustrated and tired.
In hindsight, I obviously shouldn't have bought the tickets. They weren't cheap and I spent basically all of E's birthday budget on them. I thought he would like it--there were kids much younger than him there happily bopping around in their seats. Maybe having some sort of ear protectors would have helped? The show was really loud. Eh, I don't know.
But the whole experienced emphasized that I need to let go when it comes to wanting to have Kodak-moment-type family experiences. For instance, I thought this would be a special experience the three of us could enjoy before the baby comes. I get sucked into "the idea" of things very easily. Sometimes I struggle with walking the line between not wanting to deny E experiences he would enjoy and having a realistic idea of what he would actually enjoy and what's worth the hassle and money.
Blargh.
Labels: E., Mother-of-the-year