The day started pretty bad because my child wanted to take the public transport instead of cabbing down. We ended up being around 5 minutes late (not too bad) and by now I am actually quite chill when it comes to punctuality with my toddler. In fact, we weren't the latest either with quite a bit of family coming in after us.
Sadly, my toddler was absolutely frightened by the dark theatre. We did try going in but he would fuss non-stop. And me, being afraid of being judged and boo-ed, acceded to his whims. We ended up watching the first half of the show through the intermission screen outside.
The staff at Victoria Theatre was really kind. When I voiced my concerns, her words stuck me deeply: This is a children's production. Of course, it will be constantly interrupted by the needs of the kids. She gave lots of encouragement and even got me a plastic chair to sit outside. Eventually, I did brace myself and went in again. My kid still fussed intermittently but honestly no parent shooed me out.
I know many of you must be thinking "what a waste of money". I am sharing this story because I wanted to say the waste was not the money but the experience. The acoustic of a live show would be so much more animated and engaging than staring on the screen, which he could have done any day. And the production - Stick Man was actually insanely good even from outside. Sigh.
Also just to encourage other parents who have gone through "waste" like me, don't be dishearten. We must remember that a child doesn't necessarily have to react positively to every experience. In fact, my son humming to the tune later at night and chatted to me about the plot. I guess actually he enjoyed it, he just wasn't used to the dark. So we will be trying again because I am quite a fan of the arts and other parents have assured me that it does get better with time. :)
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