After purchasing tickets a couple of weeks ago for an upcoming concert I had a thought that it was very close to the anniversary of our family’s first concert together. Upon further investigation I realized it was the same month in 2007 that we had all attended our first concert together. Our daughters had just turned 12 when on October 27, 2007 we took them to Memphis, TN (Mud Island Amphitheater) to attend the Young Wild Things concert tour. Fall Out Boy was headlining the concert with Gym Class Heroes, Plain White T's, and Cute Is What We Aim For. It was fantastic and it was the catalyst for our family’s addiction to concerts. My husband and I had attended various concerts in our past both separately and together but it had been a long time before we finally went again, as a family, in 2007. As a young family it wasn’t really an option to attend concerts as we had previously but when the girls were old enough it became a way we could spend time together and reward our daughters for having outstanding grades. Since then we have attended over fifteen concerts together and it has went from one or two a year to as many as we can get to! In many ways it reminds me of how people talk about tattoos, once you have your first you are always thinking about your next. That is exactly how we are about concerts; if we don’t have one booked to at least look forward to we feel slightly depressed. It is hard to explain.
The reason behind sharing this was because I don’t think a lot of people consider taking their kids to concerts, but they should. To be clear though, I am not advocating bringing small children to concerts. Nothing upsets me more at a concert than a little kid with their hands over their ears. Those small children do not understand what is going on and should have been left at home with a sitter. We decided ours were old enough at 12 and we chose a venue that was large to avoid the crowded mosh pit scenario that is a part of the concerts we attend now that they are 16 and more capable of defending themselves. If you take into consideration the artist, the venue, and the timing, you can make concert going with your kids a successful event that will create memories to last a life time. I will never forget a couple of years ago when the girls were opening Christmas gifts and came across tickets for the Black Eyed Peas concert, they cried! Even after all the concerts we have been to it’s still exciting for them and it still makes them overwhelmingly happy, what else can evoke that kind of response from teens?
What better way to reward your kids for all their hard work and good behavior than to give them the experience of live music and the memories of family time spent doing something everyone loves? Since most people reading this have kids younger than mine I am hoping this gives you some inspiration on unique ways you can spend quality time with your kids and reward them for the things we should never take for granted.
On December 4th we will be going to Tulsa to see The Ugly Christmas Sweater Concert tour featuring Rise Against with Cage The Elephant and AWOLNATION. It will be our third time seeing Cage The Elephant, which officially makes us groupies I am pretty sure, but we are okay with that!
Cage The Elephant - Shake Me Down
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