My Practically Perfect Life

I grew up with parents that took my brothers and I to concerts and Broadway shows rather than vacations. I loved that! And as an adult I love even more that I got to experience those things. So when I had kids I knew that I wanted to give them the same type of experiences. While they have not had the pleasure of seeing Phantom of the Opera, which is my all time favorite, or any other show or ballet of the sorts, they have been able to see some good concerts! Their fist being Aerosmith and Slash when they were 8 and 11. I took my oldest to see Matchbox 20 a couple of years ago for his birthday and the youngest to Imagine Dragons a couple of years ago as well. And then Rob Zombie announced he was coming to town.

I have to go back a ways and start the admittance of my bad parenting. My children have been exposed to all types of music since they were babies. Because I like most types of music I was able to give them the experience of anything they could hope to hear. By the way they have excellent taste in music!! At a young age my sweet second child became a metal head. I’m talking blaring his music in his room while playing with his Perry the Platypus! Metallica, Disturbed…and the Great Rob Zombie! When he was 7 he dressed up as Rob Zombie for Halloween. I’m telling you, this kid was a huge fan.

Fast forward to 2018, age 12. I have to be honest, I purchased 2 tickets for this concert. For myself and my husband. Because who takes a 12 year old to a concert like this?! Even if he knows all the words to every song? Then the more time went on we realized that he could handle it. So I purchased 2 more tickets. To take someone, not a friend of his of course! It ended up being my 15 year old, that would have had as much fun sitting in the truck and playing on his phone! I also had to take a friend of mine because my husband was working…joy of that oil field life!

So. My son had no idea I was taking him! I just told him we were going to Houston and he had to put on deodorant! Sometimes 12 year old’s need that reminder! We got to the venue and he was stoked! I’m talking…like stoked!! I guess the first clue this was going to be a crazy night was when I bought the boys each a bottle of water and they would not leave the caps on! Like…how violent would these fools get if we can’t have plastic bottle caps?! But we ventured on. We had lawn seats but were unable to rent chairs. Why? You guessed it! In case someone decided to hit someone with a damn chair! Ok, here is where some of you would have turned around and said no way! But at the same time…what would you miss by leaving?! We found a spot to the side that looked like we could see the stage fine but not be right in the middle of people. The hardest thing for me to do was tell my boys that if I said run they needed to run straight to the fence and not leave until I told them it was ok. I wanted a backup plan in case some jack monkeys decided to act like fools.

Opening was Marylin Manson, although he was struggling with food poisoning and only sang a handful of songs.  Still cool to see him live! Then came the main event! Rob Zombie is 54 in case anyone was wondering. And to watch him on stage was like seeing a 25 year old! He was amazing! He sounded fantastic, he jumped around and made me ultra aware of my arthritic knee! We were jamming!!  It was hot, there were people everywhere but dang! The smile on my baby’s face was so awesome!! We were singing and jumping and shouting!

Then. It. Happened. I felt an intense sudden pain from my shin down my foot. When I looked up a skinny white boy that almost has all his punches on his Hot Topic card punched, was in a mosh pit of sorts with a few other guys. I looked at the boys and said run! They did, along with my friend as soon as I handed her my keys and wallet! Because I was about to start kicking some goth tail! When the guy stepped on my leg and shoved me, I hit my 12 year old. Like bumped into him, in case I need to clarify. That pissed me off! The guys stopped immediately so I didn’t have to cause bodily damage with a half empty water bottle. I sure could have used that bottle cap!! The boys, and my friend, were fine! Shocked as hell and unsure of what to do, but they were fine. We decided to stay because there were some favorite songs that hadn’t been sung. Not too long after all the crazy happened the “I wear a SlipKnot shirt just because the pierced girl told me it was on sale” guy came up and apologized. I told him he was a (insert not so friendly words that a pissed off mother would say) and that he owed my son an apology. He and the other guys went straight up to my boys and shook their hands and apologized. And they meant it. Which really meant the world.

We left soon after because it was late and my leg was throbbing. We laughed a lot on the way home. There wasn’t a single complaint! My son said he loved it and that was worth everything! So here is me, telling you why I’m a bad mom. For giving my children an experience they will always remember, for protecting my kids when it went a little sideways, and for passing along my love of music to my boys. Bad places, unsafe spaces, they could be anywhere. But living life and learning at an early age to not be afraid to enjoy yourself is the best gift I can give them! So, don’t be afraid to put yourself or kids in situations that don’t always look like a Wiggle’s concert. Be aware of your surroundings, have plans for when things don’t go perfect, and always, I mean ALWAYS have fun!!