Entertaining Children

Sunday we had a family picnic followed by the circus. A circus just seems like such a good family activity and we were all excited and eager to attend. It didn't take long for our eagerness to wear out. The show time was listed as 5 p.m. but when that time arrived there was no sign of an organized activity. The ringmaster did announce that the show would be starting in 30 minutes and meanwhile there were elephant and pony rides for $5 each. All around us were hawkers trying to sell us light toys, light swords, cotton candy and popcorn. When the show finally began, there was an announcement about how nice it was that the circus animals were rescued and allowed to live a wonderful life in the ring. It was so outrageous to hear them say things like that when the animals were so obviously not joyfully going through their stunts at the crack of a whip. Everyone was ready to go at intermission except my mom who was disappointed that we had to miss some of the great show.

So now any new grandchildren that may come my way will never have the joy of attending a circus with their grandma. I have sworn off those events forever. However I am into attending Wiggles concerts. Tonight was my second year and it is just a riot to watch children under the age of 6 just dancing and singing loudly. There is so much audience participation and almost no one remains in their seat. Lucas could not sit still and jumped and waved his hands and arms to the music. All I could think of was why didn't I think of a program like this? It is simple, silly and yet provides so much joy and laughter. A grandma in front of me caught my eye during one riotous song and we happily grinned at one another. It was well worth the price of a ticket.

Now I've ended my writing with another pleasant topic and my friend, Carol, can't figure out why I'm writing such nice things when she has always known me as being sarcastic and critical. I am still as crabby and critical as ever but when I write for everyone to read I can't really write all the things I'm thinking for fear of offending some good friend. I guess that's what makes this public writing difficult for me. I'm going to work on finding my voice.