Image via Eva Rinaldi on Flickr
[twitter]I used to laugh at parents who would call the radio station trying to get tickets to the Spice Girls. “I neeeeeed these tickets!,” they would beg. “My five year old looooovvvvess the Spice Girls. Pleeeeasssee help me.” It was almost like they were doing an impression of their 5 yr old themselves.
It was around this time news stories of a fight breaking out at a mall appearance by Dora the Explorer hit the local headlines. Parents were caught a) bribing mall security to jump the line b) fighting each other after news of the bribes made its way down the line. Yes, parents were punching each other out so there kid could meet a teenager dressed in a big, sweaty, stinky Dora the Explorer costume.
I didnt get it. I was 30ish and nowhere near having children of my own. Why would a 5 yr old “neeeeeed” to go to a concert? Why would parents punch each other out over a mascot?
Because children, people. Because children. We don’t want to spoil them. We want to raise them with respect and empathy, but when your kid catches on to something and they loooovvve it, you’ll move mountains to make it happen. You’ll watch Frozen 42 times. You’ll go on a dad blogger group and ask if anyone has a Taylor Swift presale code for tickets.
“OK. I’m about to thoroughly destroy any shred of dignity I may have left, but here goes,” Sam Christensen of Dork Daddy meekly started a new thread in our group last week. “Anyone out there have a presale code to buy Taylor Swift tickets?,” came the punchline.
While there was some good-natured, locker room style needling of his request, it was mostly met with applause.
“Dads dont have any dignity left if they are doing it right,” David Blackwood (Under Daddy) offerd. “Buy those tickets and complete that journey.”
We get it. Dads get it. From The Spice Girls to Hilary Duff to Miley Cyrus to Justin Bieber to One Direction to Taylor Swift, we get it. When our kids want something, we will move mountains to make it happen. We will enter the den of testosterone and ask for support, because dads get it.
I made a similar move this week, forking over my credit card number for 4 tickets to a show at next year’s Calgary International Children’s Festival.
Zacharie and Charlie are big fans of Chris and Martin Kratt, The Wild Kratts. These two brothers who you may remember from Zoboomafoo or Kratt’s Creatures, have a new show where they are animated animal heroes who put on creature power suits and learn all about animals.
It has given Zacharie and almost encyclopedic knowledge of zebras, peregrine falcons, and cheetahs. They love the show. When I told the boys in the summer that the Kratt Brothers were on Twitter, they asked if they could send them tweets.
At Halloween, Zacharie designed his jack-o-lantern to look just like Martin Kratt. He loves the guys.
So when the roster of shows was announced for the 2015 Calgary International Children’s Festival, and it included a date in Calgary the week before Zacharie’s birthday, I didn’t hesitate. Never mind tickets to the show, I upgraded to the VIP meet and greet where our whole family would get an audience with the Kratts. $60 a piece.
Because parenting. You don’t get it until you get it and when you get it, it’s expensive.