Long live Sesame Street Live (and one very persistent Elmo balloon)
posted in Mom Rants |After I succumbed to the purchase of an overpriced plastic funhouse for my two-year-old, I never thought I’d get roped into any other toddler money-making schemes for at least another two six months. I’ve already spent an exorbitant amount of money on sippy cups, and purchased a bike trailer for my husband’s bike that has been used all of one time (more on that another time.) I’ve babyproofed our patio, redone my pantry and am gearing up for the eventual move of my son into a big boy room. What’s left to be spent on with the summer not even officially here?
Sesame Street Live, of course.
I am among the unitiated when it comes to kiddie events. But when I saw that Elmo was rolling into town and tickets were being offered up free of charge, I could hardly deny the little prince a trip to everyone’s favorite neighborhood. As much as I hate to admit it, I was quite excited for our first live children’s production.
The trip out to the theater was out of a bad sitcom plot. Family plans for bad traffic on Chicago’s notoriously crowded highway. Trip takes 15 minutes with 45 minutes to kill before the production. Family parks in lot alongside what appears to be the remnants of a minivan dealership. Cliche photo captions ensue.
Death to the minivan.
A shoulder ride into the theater lobby took up all of 5 minutes. Luckilly I wasn’t alone in the thrills of kiddie shows.
Gratuitous father/ son bonding photo. I’m sure the elder wishes he was at a baseball game instead.
But once inside, the sunny days swept the grey skies away. I saw the lit up Sesame Street vending table money-suck and I was instantly hooked. We were going to see Big Bird!
I didn’t ask the poor dude in the photo selling inflatable Elmos if I could take his photo. Whoops!
And once the show started, forget about it. We were all hooked. It was a well-thought-out, splashy, flashy but not trashy hour-and-a-half of sheer neon joy. My husband liked it so much he even got our kid one of those inflatable Elmos that poor dude was selling. For $10 a pop. A rookie mistake, in my opinion.
A sea of glowing rookie mistakes.
And even though my son bawled his eyes out at the popping balloons at the end of the show, he truly enjoyed himself. And the Elmo balloon. Funny thing is, that $10 balloon is still alive and kicking well after the show has ended. Like three days later. And it provides countless minutes of endless entertainment, which I am eternally grateful for.
The Elmo balloon - the gift that keeps on giving.
And giving.
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