Band Competition @Prospect High School

We all seemed to have a late start this morning, by an hour. Before I knew it, it was lunchtime. :P Ronin's naptime soon followed, and then by luck Nikko fell asleep around 4:30. I had the opportunity to leave the kids with Denis and run to Costco and Jewel for provisions. I chatted with Atz and she mentioned that Tristan had a band competition at Prospect High School. I was surprised, and remarked that we should all go see it. Prospect High School is really only blocks away from us. The only caveat was that it was raining, drizzling kinda heavy. Still, I was up for the challenge. Crazy. And after finding parking far from the school, Atz, her girls, and our clan (sans Denis, who went to pick up Lego from Petsmart where he finally got a bath, but joined us later) raced up toward the football field. I had the kids in the double stroller, wearing Audrey. I didn't bring any food bag because I didn't think we would stay long. Due to the rain, we discovered that the bands would continue in the gym, so that's where we ended up. I wanted the boys to experience something totally different and exciting, but once we got into the gym I saw that we would have to sit up in bleacher seats. I didn't think the boys would sit still for this, but gave it a try. I also sent Rory to the concession stand to get 3 bags of M&Ms in case Nikko had a meltdown. Unfortunately, I had no food for Ronin and didn't think I would need it. Atz carried Ronin up into the seats while I led Nikko by hand. Nikko was surprisingly calm and walked up the steps without any nervousness. We sat down and Ronin started getting antsy already. I used to think going out with Nikko was the only problem, but Ronin is just as stubborn and sometimes a curious troublemaker. We sat for a few minutes before Glenbrook South High School marched on to the scene, and a minute before they were going to play, Ronin was getting vocal and Nikko was also starting to get restless. I tore open the bag of M&Ms and started feeding them to Nikko, who froze in his steps. Ronin needed more persuading from Atz to look at the band, flags and instruments. I suddenly realized that me being there with the boys was a total mistake because this was a band COMPETITION, not a band concert or show. I wanted to get up and take the boys out but it was too late; the people running the competition wouldn't let us out at this point anyway, so I prayed that Ronin wouldn't struggle, that Nikko wouldn't get overstimulated by the LOUD music, drums and percussion, and that we would be able to maintain silence until they were finished. Lucky for us, Ronin sat by my side and was only a little vocal, and stopped trying to get out of the seats. Nikko ate the M&Ms and did only a little leaning on the person sitting in front of us, who was thankfully a kind person. Audrey was a little restless at times, too, which worried me even more than the boys because if she wouldn't take the pacifier then there was no calming her. I looked around at the sea of parents and noticed that there were no babies in the stands. There were a few younger kids, but no one that might start crying. The kids got a kick out of the applause between numbers and they all tried clapping their hands too. When it was all over, I immediately scooped our kids up and walked us down. I was able to catch a glimpse of Tristan, second to the front of his row, in his uniform and carrying his baritone. We all walked out in the rain, headed home and did our bath routine. We survived our outing, but I know that in the future I should not bring the kids to something that we have to remain quiet. Which actually brings me to wonder about the baptism tomorrow. I wonder if we should go and hang out in the vestibule, because the kids will not sit still for it. Mom would probably tell me to go and try to have the kids sit still, just so they can experience being in church, but I worry that they will be loud and distracting. We will go, but I will be realistic and won't expect us to be in the main part of the church. Anyway, I didn't think Nikko was tired enough to fall asleep at bedtime, but he must have been ok with going to bed because I was able to leave the room without a protest. And he didn't try to climb into Ronin's bed either.