If I Were in Charge of Concerts...

A year or two ago, Jaycee and I were invited to a Christian concert. I bravely accepted the invitation, but I had reservations.

This was Jaycee's first real concert in a place that she had never been to. That was two reasons to be concerned that Jaycee may have a problem with the event. I get nervous taking Jaycee anywhere new for the first time but especially if it involves darkness, loudness, and flashing lights.

Fortunately, Jaycee did well. In fact, she loved it! She danced, sang, and signed the night away even if she didn't know the songs. That positive experience has led us to try other concerts too. We are grateful, she has had a good response.

Still, it got me thinking. If mothers of children with special needs ran concerts, things would be different. They would be "safe" for our children. Here's how it would go:

1.   There would be ample warning before the show to signal when it would start. There would be a five minute warning and a three minute warning given. At 1 minute to go, a countdown would appear on a large screen showing the concert is about to begin. (And obviously, it would start on time too!)

2.   When the time warnings are given, there would also be an announcement prior to the show to prepare the child for what is coming. It may be something like this, “The concert will begin soon. The lights will be turned off. It will be dark. The music will be loud, but it will be fun." 

3.   The seat would not be the type that flip up when you stand up. The chair would be safe so that the child could stand up and sit down without having to struggle with a seat that has folded up automatically.

4.   There would be no strobe lights. Am I the only one who worries about seizures triggering when they see strobe lights?    Just me?

5.   There would be empty seats in the back for any child who needs to be positioned farther away from the action or who get too overwhelmed.

6.   The music would start out at a reasonable loudness and would gradually get louder through the first song or two- allowing the kids to adjust to the increase in decibels in an easier manner.

The kids meeting Christian artist Jordan Feliz after Elijah's first concert

      If I were in charge of concerts, I wouldn't have to worry about a potential problem with my child. I could anticipate a night full of dancing and fun instead of trying to prepare for possible issues. Of course, not everyone would enjoy this concert, but I know my kid would. Wouldn't it be nice too if every child could meet a member of the band after the concert as a reward for surviving the experience?

And, yes, these are the things I think about in my spare time. 

Surprise: You're having a date!

I have many excuses for not going on a date with my husband:
-We have a very limited number of people who can babysit Jaycee.
-Jaycee requires 50 minutes of medicine and airway clearance every morning and every night.
-Jaycee sleeps with a bi-pap every night and goes to bed at 8 pm, so that makes evening dates next to impossible.
-If she is even a tiny bit sick, she is usually home bound and requires even more medicines and airway clearance.
-Jaycee is very routine oriented. If I change her evening routine, she can get extremely uncooperative.
-Gosh, I'll admit it! I like routines too. Planning a date around our schedule requires too much thought and effort.

This year, these excuses have resulted in one magical date night for our anniversary. Yes, one. Any date that includes seeing the Godzilla movie must be special! We sort of had one more date night if you count the dinner we had while we attended a Down syndrome conference. My husband said the hours of classes we took before we got to that dinner made it not count. There have been several short lunch dates at local restaurants during the week while the kids were in school. So, we do go out just not anywhere special or the slightest bit romantic.

Last week, we had date night number 2 for the year.

Some thoughtful people from our church proved they could be private detectives by secretly gathering information about us, planning a date based around our interests, and a big surprise reveal for us.

The date plans were revealed in the middle of a fake interview at our home for what we thought was a video for church. It was clever. It was surprising.

I have had many surprises the past few years, the majority of which have been bad and negative. I honestly forgot how nice a good surprise felt. The kids received several presents. We received tickets to see our favorite Christian artist, Toby Mac, a hotel room, gas money, and a restaurant gift certificate.

I couldn't believe that our family was picked to receive a blessing like this. And I couldn't believe our church, which is attended by hundreds of people, thought of us and our family. The night we received the gifts, I couldn't sleep from excitement.

A few days later, I was still excited as we made our way to the concert. It was fun and uplifting. We got hours to talk to each other without interruption or thoughts of medicines. We stayed out until 11 pm; that's rare for us! We slept in until 8:30 in the morning (also rare). We traveled with 1 suitcase and no medical equipment! I missed my kids but enjoyed the time with the man who stands by me during all of our crazy ups and downs.

It was a date night that neither one of us will forget for a long time!

Thanks Crossroads Bible Church!