It's Wiggle Time!

We are- and always have been-- a Wiggles family. Like it or not, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus, Captain FeatherSword, Wags the Dog, Anthony, Greg (now Sam), Jeff and Murray are all members of our clan. Many a therapist has come to work in this house and upon leaving, you can guarantee that they have a Wiggles tune or two, playing in their heads. Lucky for Jon and I, they've grown on us but I know for some, the sound of a Wiggles song is like nails on a chalkboard.

Back in Ontario, I think we counted that Jake has seen them in concert three times and the twins, once. In fact, when we took Owen and Will to the concert, it was there that I really noticed that some of Owen's 'quirks' weren't normal. He flapped so hard (in excitement) that I thought he was going to fly to the stage. It wasn't long after that we received their diagnosis. I digress.. So Jonathan saw that the Wiggles were coming to Alberta and he was on a mission to get tickets. We knew that if the seats were far away, the boys probably wouldn't sit through the whole show because they wouldn't be as involved. Jon lucked out and found a family through the classifieds, who was selling 10th row floor seats. We bought 4, then later tacked on 3 more in a not-so-great section for Jake and Erin and Courtney. Jake understood that this day was for his brothers, since he had not only seen them 3 times previously, but he had also been to many other concerts and plays that his brothers had not. Erin and Courtney's reason for joining us... they begged to come. Can you blame them?

the New Wiggles (Erin and Courtney)

Jonathan and I were so nervous, probably because we were SO excited for the boys and wanted them to enjoy themselves. Did I mention that they are Wiggles-obsessed? The biggest disappointment for us would be if they couldn't care less that they were there. Well.. they more than impressed us. When the dancers came out on to the stage, Owen started flapping and Will just looked shocked.

checking out the Wiggles

Now just for some background, we don't really go anywhere with all of the boys. Like.. nowhere. Not because we don't want to, but the behaviours are so bad that it's not worth it. I shouldn't say that. The boys need to experience everything they can, from popping in to pick up milk at the variety story, to eating in a restaurant. We have learned to tolerate the looks that people give us when there is a tantrum and I can assure you that more than once we have left our shopping cart in the middle of the store and high-tailed it outta there with a wailing kid under each arm. The problem now is that Will is just too quick and too strong for one adult to handle both of the twins at once. When things are going great, they're great. But in the middle of a grocery store, if one decides to run away, while the other is kicking and thrashing on the floor, which one do you abandon to help/find the other? So I opt to not put ourselves in that position so that I don't have to make that decision. Admittedly, it's a bandaid solution that is not fair to the boys. Hence, taking the risk and going to the Wiggles.

So when we managed to sit through an entire concert without a single meltdown, or runaway attempt (besides the minor detail of Will trying to steal another concert-goers Wiggles dolls), we were thrilled. About halfway through, Owen started to get a bit restless and seemed to prefer watching the dancing kids over the crazy guys on stage, but Will was absolutely awe-struck. I haven't seen him that calm and compliant in AGES! He just kept staring at them as if to say "how did they get from my tv to right in front of me?". He really seemed to make the connection, whereas Owen was entertained because it was something fun, but I'm not sure he really got it.

So Kudos to Jonathan for making a memory for our boys. We really did have fun. I must admit that I can't wait for the day when we can graduate the concert-going to something a little more mature. Someday.

Jake had fun.. but I'm sure he would have rather seen Taylor Swift again instead