I took Dartmouth’s parenting advice and decided on Friday to buy tickets for the B’s and I to go see Zac Brown on Monday. The tickets were set to arrive by 3:00 PM on Monday. With the rodeo portion of the concert/rodeo starting at 6:45 there was no margin for error in this plan.
For those not familiar with the Houston rodeo, the rodeo lasts for about two weeks. During the day there is a huge carnival and all sorts of stock show and rodeo exhibits and events. Each night there is a rodeo with bull riding, barrel racing, calf roping, and all. There is even mutton bustin. That’s were children around the age of five attempt to stay on a sheep for as long as they can. The winner gets a little interview in front of thousands, which is always one for the memory books, and a nifty belt buckle. After the cowboys and cowgirls are done, they set up a huge revolving stage in the middle of Reliant Stadium, which is the stadium where the Houston Texans play. Then on to the stage comes a major music artist, everything from Reba McIntyre to ZZ Top and Kid Rock.
Baby’s favorite music artist is Zac Brown Band, and his favorite song by him is Free. This happens to be the artist playing at the rodeo on Monday, so I got tickets for Baby, Brainy Bird and I to go.
On Monday, I checked my Fed-Ex tracking number every half hour looking to see if the tickets were on my front door yet. I was finished with my work tasks at 2:45, and I logged out of my computer and headed home. Little did I know that I literally had no time to spare. It was about 3:15 when I was sitting at a red light on my way home, and I took a peek at my fed-ex tracking number on my iphone to see if my concert tickets where there yet. I had an email that said, “Package delivery failed, will reattempt delivery tomorrow.” WHAT? the concert starts in three and a half hours. Tickets tomorrow are worth nothing, and I paid a pretty penny for the tickets.
I tried calling Fed-Ex while on my way home, and my phone kept dropping the call as if to say get off the phone while you are driving. As I was pulling on to the main street in my neighborhood, I saw a Fed Ex truck headed the opposite direction. I was a maniac making a u-turn and chasing it down. The woman was very sweet to stop and not give me grief for my outrageous driving. I told her my dilemma, and she said that it wasn’t her route. OH NO!!!
She really wanted me to get the tickets. She called the other driver, and she convinced him that it was important that he meet me to deliver the tickets. I waited in the parking lot where I had flagged her down, and sure enough in about 10 minutes there was the other Fed-Ex driver with my tickets. He was super sweet about it.
Before long, the B’s and I were at the rodeo. Brainy Bird loved the rodeo, he charmed the elderly people behind us with his extensive knowledge of the events. Baby was a little squirmy butt during the rodeo. I regretted bringing him. Then the rodeo was over. The lights dimmed, and there was Zac Brown. He opened with his hit song Toes. Baby was enthralled. The smile frozen on his face during the entire concert was worth every penny that I spent on parking, tickets, and here eat this and sit still during the rodeo snacks.
Zac Brown did a special rendition of Free. Baby exclaimed that he did it just for him. Folks around us were amused by Baby’s enthusiasm for every song, and his dancing and singing along. The kid loves music. Baby walked away with an appreciate of the violin thanks to Zac Brown’s cover of The Devil Went Down to Georgia. As my co-worker, Mommy Bear, said the next day, “THE CONCERT WAS AWESOME”
Baby sang his own rendition of Free the whole hour drive home. Brainy Bird was asleep before we were out of the parking lot. When I tucked Baby in it was almost midnight and he was still wide awake. “Mommy, Zac Brown sang just for me.” he said as if he was so captivated by the show he did not notice the 50,000+ other people there. Dartmouth was right, it is not bad parenting to take the kids to a concert.