Monday, August 09, 2010

Did I Ever Tell You About the Time We Met The Wiggles?

And saw them live on stage?  No?  It was two years ago this week.  Here's how it went.

I found out The Wiggles were going to be in town and being momma to their two biggest fans, I couldn't resist getting tickets.  I knew, though, that sitting in a crowded auditorium full of screaming Wiggles fans was in no way going to work with my crew.  A crowd of five people is often too much for them.  They'd scream, alright, it just wouldn't be screams of joy and happiness.


So I emailed both the Target Center, who was hosting the concert, and the Wiggles themselves.  The Target Center emailed me back and very generously offered me tickets to sit in a suite with the kids, where we could go in the back lounge area and shut ourselves away from the excitement and noise, if need be.  We could have up to 10 tickets, so our cousins who were almost as big fans as we were, could come too!  I was so grateful to them.  The kids tramped all around the suite in their new Wiggles t-shirts.



But The Wiggles.  Now they offered something really really amazing.  They invited us to come to a "meet & greet" before the show, where the kids could actually meet The Wiggles in person!  They were so excited!

Oh alright, fine!  The truth is, Mark and I were very excited.  Aliza was very excited.  The boys ... well we hoped that they'd at least tolerate it.  We hoped that somehow they'd temporarily overcome their anxieties and magically see this for the fun and amazing opportunity it was, and enjoy it.

They didn't.


(yeah, Anthony wasn't able to make it to the meet & greet.  Something about his having an injury and having to visit the chiropractor before the show.....whatever.  Can't believe we didn't get to meet Anthony.  We were bummed.)

So meeting the Wiggles was utter torture for them.  The rest of us were quite star struck.

Then we went up to our suite and waited for the show. And waited. And waited. And waited.




Problem was, the meet & greet was three hours before showtime.  Which means by the time the show started, we'd been in a strange place full of strange people and sounds and smells and textures, for hours.  The boys were wildly overstimulated. 


The concert began, and as I suspected, the boys had to watch it from the suite, behind closed glass doors.  That was okay though, they scampered around and did seem to stand in front of the doors to watch when they heard a familiar song.

We made it through the first couple of songs before AJ threw up just a little bit.  I cleaned him up and thought, okay, we got that out of the way, they will be okay now, right?

Somewhere around the fifth song he threw up again, a lot.  On me.

I had changes of clothes along for everyone except me.  And I didn't fit into a 3T at the time.

There wasn't much else to do but leave.  I left Mark and Aliza and their cousins there and brought the boys home.  In the car the boys and I sort of changed places.  They were calm and relaxed, now that they knew they were going home.  I was fairly upset. All I wanted was to bring my twin 3-year-olds to a Wiggles concert and watch them be in awe and dance and sing, like other people's kids.  I wanted them to be even more excited about the Wiggles in person than they are at home.  I wanted them to understand it all.

Hindsight, as we all know, is brilliant.  I know now, they weren't ready -- they weren't mature enough (or in control of their anxieties enough) to handle an experience as intense as a live concert, even one for children.  I also know, had we skipped the meet & greet and ducked in there just in time for the concert, I probably could have gotten them through most of the show.  It was a long, scary day for them.  It was a learning experience for me.

2 comments:

Jen said...

Sometimes we don't know unless we try. Even so, how brave of you to try! ;-)

Vicki Davis said...

Reading this made me cry. i just had a simular experience with Yo Gabba gabba. We also baught VIP backstage passes, but it was for after the show. Holly actually does well in crowds thought I thought she might be afraid of meeting the Gabba crew in person as she is afraid of the easter bunny and santa. All day she was saying she was going to gabba house, and when she saw the markee she was exstatic, in the theatre she was running around with her friends thrilled at all the pictures of gabba, whereing her shirt and new toodee shoes and seeing everyone else wearing gabba. We were in 4th row seats (WTF was I thinking??) and she was so excited at the antisipation of it, then DJ lance Rock came on a screen the size of the whole stage she was transfixed, then the crowd started to chant in unision... She started to lose it, but DJ lance jumping out of the screen to a live person followed by two confetti canons just threw her over the top.

45 minutes later after sitting in the lobby and the quiet private VIP room while the show was going on she was still in hysterics. At intermission I gave three backstage passes (70$ each o top of ticket prices) to a friend who didn't spring for them and we went home after seeing less then 90 seconds of the show.

I was devistated, my kid craves stilulation, they had falling bubbles and ballons and sang all of the songs she loves, but it wasn;t until we crossed the bay bridge and she saw we were on the oakland side that she stopped crying and took a deep breath.

We walked in the door at home and she asked to watch Yo Gabba gabba on TV. SIGH. I asked her if she wanted to go back to gabba house, she didn;t understand this was a one time thing... and she said no, stay holly house, gabba tv.

Go Figure. lesson learned. In hind site I should have know, I should have sat in the balcony, I should have waited int he lobby till after the initial frenzy of the show starting. Still a few weeks later I ask her about gabba house and she tells me, mommy no gabba at home, gabba tv.

Thank you for sharing your story, while I know it is so very disappointing, It helps to know I am not the only one who pushes and tries.

Labels

#youmightbeanautismparentif 2012 in review 9/11 memories ABA therapy Acceptance acronyms advocacy affection aggression AJ Aliza Aliza the playwright All I really need to know... Alphabitty Moments American Girl Ann Coulter antibullying anxiety anxiety in parents of children with special needs apple orchard apps for autism AppSmitten Arbaclofen Arbitrary Thoughts ARC autism autism brushing autism portrayed in TV shows Autism Shines awareness backyard band baseball bath toys beds behavior problems being tall Birthday Boys biting blog change blog hop blogging books bottles brushing bubbles Burnsville Fire Muster bus Cabin Fever in Minnesota candy Carly Fleischmann Carly's Voice cats cats and dogs chewys Chicago childcare for special needs children childhood Children's Museum chocolate Christmas Church circumin clinical trials Clonidine CNN Hero of 2011 coffee communication comparisons computer Conference cost of special education Courage Center Curcumin daddy dance dance competition dance moms Dental surgery dentist developmental milestones diagnosis diapers Diego Disability Day dogs Dolphin Tale Doomsday Preparation Dora Doritos drug trials DVD player early intervention earrings Easter ECSE Parent Retreat electronic gadgets electronics Everything I need to know... Evil Overlord fall falling asleep at school families family fashion fear Featured Feel Good Friday field trip fireworks first day of school Flash Gordon Food Chronicles food issues in Fragile X and autistic children forms forts Fragile Face of God Fragile X Fragile X advocate Fragile X and autism Fragile X Awareness Day Fragile X carriers Fragile X in the news Fragile X presentation Fragile X statistics Fragile X Writers friends fundraiser for Fragile X funniest Funny Gabrielle Giffords Galveston games getting carsick Girls' Night Out Giving Spirit glasses global warming going home Good Morning Great Quotes guest blogs guest post haircuts Halloween hearing test Heaven is for Real hippotherapy holidays Holland Holly home life homework hotel hugging human behavior hyperactivity IEP Meeting IEPs in the news inclusion inspiration integration iPad iPad apps iPad apps for autism IQ testing Jack Jablonski January First Joke journal entry kids with Fragile X and animals Kindergarten Kindle kisses language study learning to talk leaves lemonade stand Lily Little Einsteins losing teeth Mad Gab makeup mall Mall of America marcia braden McDonalds media sensationalization medications Melatonin Miami MIND Institute Minnesota Bloggers Conference minocycline Miracle League monkeys mosquito bites Mother's Day movies MVMOM Used Clothing and Equipment Sale nail trimming names naughtiness neighbors nicknames nightmares normal off topic one thing leads to another online dating Operation Beautiful oral sensory orphan drug act other bloggers Our Wedding outside overstimulation panic attacks parade parental stress Parenthood park Partners in Policymaking penicillin people with disabilities pets pharmacy fun photography Photoshop picnic Pictures pinching pink shirt Pinterest playing outside playing with toys poem politics poop potty training Presents protecting autistic children rash reading to kids research Retreat riding a bike Robin Williams Roger Ebert routine RSS feed RUSH University San Diego Sandy Hook Elementary Santa schedules school school bus school notes school pictures screaming self image self-checkouts sensory Seroquel siblings with developmental delays sick kids sippy cups sleep smile snow pictures Snowstorm social situations speaking of the unspeakable special education special education evaluation special needs kids special needs parents Special Needs Ryan Gosling Special Olympics spelling spoon feeding spring break staying positive stimming Strep STX209 Stylish Blog Award suicide summer Sunday School Sundays sunshine survival mode swimming talking talking to kindergarteners Target teacher's aides Teeth brushing Tegretol Temple Grandin Ten Commandments textbook case of Fragile X thankful thanksgiving that window/mirror thing The Autism Store The R Word the rapid passage of time The Right Things to say to parents of special needs children The Santa Experience the Shedd Aquarium The Twin Thing The Wiggles therapeutic horseback riding therapy This is Autism topless trampoline traveling with special needs children TV twins with special needs Twitter typical Fragile X characteristics typical kids typing vacation Vacation Bible School video games videos volunteering Waisman Center water play way-back-Wednesday What I've Learned What's your song? when a special needs parent dies Wiggles Wii games Winner Winner Chicken Dinner winter wonder Wonder Pets Wordful Wednesday Wordless Wednesday Words of Wisdom World Autism Awareness Day YMCA You Tube Zack Zoloft zoo animals

Fragile X Blogs