23 December 2006

The Nutcracker

Last night Eric treated me with a very special evening.  We went to see The Nutcracker at The Ohio Theater, which is a breathtakingly gorgeous theater in downtown Columbus.  The ballet was fantastic, and we had such a great time together.  The Ohio Theater is a little nostalgic for us.  The last time we went there together was the night that Eric proposed to me, so it was very special to get the opportunity to go again.

I definitely want you to understand that we had a great time before I say this...my children did not interrupt or disturb other audience members even once.  Why?  BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT THERE.  That's right folks.  2 and 5 year olds do not belong at a ballet.

I can understand the desire to want to expose your children to the arts.  We are all for that and often look for child-friendly ways to do exactly that.  We are musicians ourselves, so of course we want our children to experience culture through music and the arts.  However, I am also wise enough to know that my children will not sit through an entire ballet.

I will say that there were some very well-behaved children watching intently through the first half and then squirming quietly through the second half, but those were not the children sitting in front of us.  There was a couple with a little girl who they put on mom's lap during the first dance.  This was delightful for her and incredibly annoying for Eric and the person sitting next to him who then could not see.  Eric politely  mentioned that he couldn't see, and they just looked at him like he was an idiot.  The woman next to Eric found another seat at the end of our row, but Eric was stuck looking at the back of this little girl's head.

To make matters worse, the child was LOUD.  She through several very loud temper tantrums during the second half of the ballet.  The mean spiteful part of me wanted to lean down to her and say, "If you were my little girl, Santa would be getting a phone call tonight and you'd be getting a lump of coal for Christmas"   BUT, of course I said nothing of the sort.  I did shush her very loudly once , and that was met by a wide-eyed look of horror and followed by a very poorly administered public spanking in the middle of the theater.  After seeing that, it wasn't too much of a mystery as to why this child was so poorly behaved.

BUT...we truly did enjoy the ballet.  I had decided before going that I wasn't going to let anything ruin my evening, and I didn't.  Eric and I both had a great time.  The ballet was phenomenal, and we had great seats in the center of the lower balcony (better than some of the floor seats actually).  Plus, The Nutcracker was written by Tchaikovsky.  Really, it doesn't get much better than that.

I am so grateful to be blessed by my husband in this way.  He knew how badly I wanted to see The Nutcracker, and he surprised me with these tickets this week.  Last night reminded me that there is still a part of me that is not only Mommy, but a part of me that enjoys music, art, and culture (and secretly imagines Ava in the role of Clara...he he).  I'm glad that I can take opportunities like this to enjoy both sides of me.

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