Don't Be Jealous: We Saw the Wiggles Live

Tonight we took the entire family and Roxie's long time CAP worker to see the Wiggles (AKA Australia's top earning entertainers 4 years in a row). Some of you are wondering who in the world The Wiggles are and others are making the gag me with a spoon gesture. Our family's interest in the Wiggles began when we noticed about 4 years ago that Roxie was captivated by the Wiggles in a way we had never seen. Up to that point she was not very interested in watching TV or DVDs other than the occasional Baby Einstein DVD. But Roxie would enthusiastically sit and watch the Wiggles, while bouncing happily and chanting along to the music, often in perfect rhythm. To this day she loves watching Wiggles' videos and prefers The Wiggles to any other sort of movie or television program. Most likely the Wiggles' intoxicating draw for Roxie and millions of young children world-wide is the catchy music (I will most likely wake up singing Wiggles in the morning), the bright colors, and enthusiasm of the Wiggles themselves (yes they are 4 Australian men dressed in what looks somewhat like a colorful Star Trek outfit, acting silly, and singing children's songs with the help of a crazy pirate, a dancing dinosaur, and an octopus).

Tonight's show was at Time Warner Arena and we never know how Roxie will do in an auditorium type setting. Luckily she was happy for the first two thirds of the show, laughing, bouncing, and chanting along. But by the last third Roxie decided she had enough and started crying, kicking, and throwing her head. We don't know if she was having sensory overload or was tired or maybe a combination. Roxie's CAP worker took her out to the hallway, but she never was able to calm down enough to watch the rest of the show. I think Roxie had a good time before the meltdown and I am glad we all went. It was particularly neat to go to a show that all of our kids were excited to see. I know that this will not happen much longer as McRae and Markos get older. In fact today one of McRae's friend's told her that she thought that The Wiggles are for babies. I was proud of McRae for standing her ground as she responded to her friend that she likes The Wiggles and was excited to see them. I love that she does not yet crumble when confronted by peer pressure and I pray that she will always be that way. McRae and her brother had fun dancing and singing at the show. I think they will always be willing to do things that Roxie likes even as their interests change because the love her very much and are generally sweet kids.