Sympathetic or Pathetic? (plus an August recap)

August has been a long month! If we count July 31st, we (mainly Chris---but if daddy is busy, we all are busy)have had a wedding, a race, a fair parade w/ worship team float, a funeral, a day at six flags on the HOTTEST day of the year,a root canal, a fair contest, fair entertainment, back to school shopping, kept two wonderful kiddos while their parents "resorted" in Mexico, a Warren Barfield/Newfire concert hosted by FCC, a sick kid, a birthday party,first days of school, an ear infection, a Selena Gomez concert, and finishing it off w/ a revival at FCC. Whew! I'm tired just typing it all and I'm sure I missed something. First off, to start the month off, we all participated in the fair race. Chris ran 5 miles! Eden & Eli (w/ the help of mom) ran the Kids 1 Mile Fun Run, & Tobe made a dash to the finsih line at the last minute to gain a medal--just b/c he is cute! It was the first race for Eden and I am very proud of her. Also proud of Eli for completing it even though he couldn't breath due to a cold. My boy Eli also turned 5 on Aug. 16th & we had a Build-A-Bear party for him & 6 of his friends. He had a blast. He made "Bat Bear" which went really well w/ his batman cake & everything else batman we got him. He said he had a great birthday. It is so fun to see your kids get SOOO excited about things like that (& show their gratefulness).


At the beginning of the month, Eden & I participated in a Mother-Daughter Look Alike Contest held at our Town & Country Fair. We WON!!!! We were 1st in our age division of younger daughters (under 10). We were voted on appearance (yes, matching outfits), our walk, our voice, & our mannerisms. As well as playing some sort of Newlywed-like game to see how well we knew each other. This is such a joyful occassion for me, being that most everyone lets me know how much she looks like Chris. But hey at least I had my one day of dressing alike. We do act more like each other more each day. Chris is the one who can attest to this fact. :) It was lots of fun & we won $50+ in gift certificates to go on a Mommy-Daughter date to the movies & dinner. Can't wait to cash in on this! I truly cherish the day. It was fun for me (& I think Eden too!).




But another fun day Eden & I got to share in this month---was this afternoon. I took her & two of her besties to the Selena Gomez concert at our Six Flags. I knew she wanted this pretty badly. Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't going to pay for tickets. Why would I? They came free w/ our season passes. However, you had to get them the day of the concert, first come, first serve. So I, being the great mom that I am, actually skipped church to meet a friend & go stand in line to get the beloved tickets. The park was set to open at 10:30 am. We were set to be there about 9:30. Woohoo, I would be one of the first in line to get tickets. We would have the best "Free" tickets we could get. Wait? What is this? The park was open at 9:00 for those wanting concert tickets? Huh? Where was this publicized? I even called the Box Office & so did a friend & we were never told this---I was a bit frustrated. None the less, she was going to get to go to the concert, for free. She should be happy about this. Normally there isn't a bad seat in the amphitheater. Of course, this has been w/ our experience with contemporary christian concerts---not necessarily tweeny bopper-Disney concerts. The whole place was packed shoulder to shoulder. Selena makes her grand entrance. Eden can't see a thing. Granted, I know my daughter can be a spoiled brat. Trust me, I know. But she started crying. And I differentiated this cry from the spoiled brat cry. It was simply an 'I'm disappointed, upset, & sad' cry. She cried, "I can hear her, but I can't see her." I melted. I really wanted her to get to enjoy this concert. It might be one of the few cool ones she sees, being that I won't pay $$$ tons of money to watch the concerts that she likes. So, I did what any sympathetic mom would do. I went and bought something at the "Concert Stand". I had asked how much the tour book was. $20???? No thank you. Eden even said, "that's too much for a book like that." She had settled for a teen magazine at a department store. Should have been the end of the story. But no, I thought to myself she really would love a little headshot signed poster or something for the wall. I figure $5 or so. The cheapest thing is $10. I buy 2 of the $10 items. Thinking her friend (who has $10 to spend) would want the other one---b/c I sure am not going to wait in this crazy line twice. (Mind you---there were some dear friends of mine w/ the girls while I did this shopping adventure). The friend didn't want either one. So now I have spent $20 on a concert that was suppose to be "Free"....b/c I was so sad for my little disappointed girl. And these "souvenirs" aren't much. All the while to find out if I would have paid $12 for reserved seats, I would have got the same "Souvenir", plus star bursts candy, plus a better view of Selena and a happier daughter (I'm telling you, it is worth it to buy the tickets). Now don't get me wrong, she did enjoy the conert eventually. People finally either left or sat so she got to enjoy the last few songs actually seeing the artist sing. I had to lift her a couple times, which isn't easy b/c she is growing too big. She also thanked me several times for the opportunity to go to see Selena after it was all said and done. I was pleased w/ Eden's attitude. I guess just not pleased w/ my instincts. So....weigh in....Am I just being a sympathetic mom or a pathetic one?