Nutcracker Sweet or… Theater Guilt

Happy holidays, everybody. I hope you’re enjoying this time with your families. I sure am! On Friday, I celebrated a day off work by doing what I have been dreaming of doing ever since I first saw my Little One pretending to be a ballerina… I took her to the Nutcracker.

Now, I know two-and-a-half is a little young for a trip to the theater. So I bought tickets for the Friday matinee.

I figure anybody who’s going to the Nutcracker for serious adult entertainment will go in the evening. Afternoons are more likely to be kiddy time. I also bought seats on the aisle. Little One and I got all dressed up and showed up at Music Hall on time. She made it through the first half beautifully – she danced in her chair, sat on my lap, told me she wanted to go down and dance on the stage.

Then intermission hit, and I bought her a juice box and bag of chips, without considering that we wouldn’t be able to take food into the theater for the second half. YOU try taking a juice box and a bag of chips away from a toddler. Yeah. We made it through about five minutes of the second half before I had to whisk her out of the theater. When I went back for our coats, she stuck her head through the balcony railing and almost toppled over the edge.

We were Nutcrackered out!

I admit, I feel a little guilty. I hope my fellow theater goers weren’t too put out by Little One.

I did my mommy duty by leaving as soon as it became apparent she’d had enough. And I know that taking her to the ballet was more for me than it was for her. But I know she had a good time because she can’t stop talking about it now.

And I love that I was able to take her, whether she got to see the whole thing or not. It’s lovely to have an afternoon off to do these kinds of things with our kids, and truly delicious to take a break from work to celebrate the holidays with our families. I hope you got to enjoy yourself as much as I did.