Sesame Street USO Experience

http://www.uso.org/sesame/

Since its debut in July 2008, the Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families has taken its message to more than 248,000 troops and military families and performed 433 shows on 131 military bases in 33 states and eleven countries.

We learned tonight that Owen really doesn’t do LOUD. (We know he doesn’t like sudden loud noises and in general he doesn’t like loud areas…but I was holding out hope.) So, yep, the Sesame Street thing was a fail. But let me start at the beginning…

We were in the third row on the end of the aisle. I was excited because it meant I could get good pics of the stage and Owen would be close enough to see. The mom next to me said “You know they come down the aisles right?” obviously warning me. I said no I didn’t know, but we’d see what happened (if Owen liked it or was freaked out). I loved the Sesame Street sign.

He loved seeing all the kids waiting in line and in the auditorium (“Look at all the kids!”).

He didn’t seem to mind the noise level of the auditorium (the first big challenge).

He loved that he got an Elmo spinny light toy (he LOVES those type of toys).

He let me take a picture (that turned out awesome).

He did awesome waiting the half hour—playing with the spinny toy and my phone (and the mom next to us even commented on how awesome his behavior was, compared to her 2yo monkey who wouldn’t stop climbing and moving).

But…he started saying DONE before the show even started. But it was a calm DONE, like a polite suggestion. I figured once he saw Elmo, maybe he would change his mind. Well, the first thing that happened was a guy came out to welcome everyone and give thanks to certain people…and Owen was okay with that…and I learned he apparently really likes clapping when everyone else is:

Then there was a video of the First Lady and Elmo, welcoming everyone and setting up the premise of the show. And he was okay with that. (This is one of the videos we saw.)

And then Elmo came out and it was LOUD and they started LOUD music and dancing.

And that’s when he became more emphatic with his HOME, DONE, and pointing. He would be excited momentarily when each new character came out, but it was still LOUD songs and he was not a fan. I kept trying to talk to him to hopefully calm him a little and get him through the music to where there would (hopefully) just be talking…but he alternated between putting his head in my lap (trying to hide) and pointing and saying HOME. I thought we might make it, but then he started whining and almost crying, so I knew we were done.

So about five minutes in (before the thing really got started—they were still in the warm up songs) I decided it was time to go and moved to get out of my seat—and he was off like a shot up the aisle, weaving through all the little kids in the aisle who were dancing, not even looking back for me. As soon as we got outside, he was completely fine, playing with his spinny toy and having a ball.

On the way to the car he started saying “Great job, mama, great job.” ❓ He’s been saying that lately and I assume he’s just parroting me saying it (I say it A LOT) but sometimes it’s appropriate for the situation. So I just thanked him, and eventually he said “Great job, mama, seeing Sesame Street.” So to him, he saw Sesame Street and he was just fine. 🙂

So in once sense I was disappointed (I kinda wanted to see the show—it wasn’t just for him!) but he was apparently happy AND we were out of there before it ended so we didn’t have to deal with the crazy traffic AND we got home in time for his bedtime AND at least we learned the lesson a cheap way (free tickets to something local), instead of traveling and spending $$$ on tickets for something in, say, Raleigh.

I’m guessing this is one of the areas we’ll be working on when we eventually start therapy. 🙂