Wiggles Wonderment con't

WARNING: The following post contains really average photographs. My pre-existing poor photography skills combined with a malfunctioning camera on the day made for particularly bad results. I apologise in advance.

I secured our tickets to the Wiggles December concert in Melbourne back in June. I didn't mention it to my children for quite awhile after that. My children, like most their age, struggle with the concept of time. The last thing I wanted was to be asked, "When are we going to see the Wiggles?" for months before the concert. So to avoid the nagging question, I waited until early September to break the news. When I did, I made it clear that we'd see the Wiggles at Christmas time. This way the children understood it was still a few months away. About a month prior to the concert, we started a countdown to the day. Here in Australia, children count down to big events by counting the number of "sleeps" between now and then. I don't remember counting "sleeps" when I was a kid in the USA. I remember counting down "days", but never "sleeps". My children count "sleeps" and now so do I. Some things you just have to run with.


Needless to say, the anticipation for the concert was building for several weeks prior to the event. My children were giddy at the opportunity to see the Wiggles live (although I think it's important to note they have been to previous Wiggles concerts and this wasn't their first) and secretly, so was I. I was really excited about this particular concert because I'd been so on the ball back in June, I'd managed to get us seats on the floor about six rows back from the stage. Not only that, I'd convinced the Handsome Australian to come along and his Mum and Auntie as well. This meant we had a 4:2 ratio happening--four adults to two children. Easy street!


Our day began quite early as we had to be bathed, fed, dressed and out of the house by about 9am to get to the city and find parking before the 10am concert. In the car on the way to the city there was excitement in the air. As soon as we got to the parking garage where we'd be leaving our car for the day, my youngest announced gleefully, "We are in the City! We are going to see the Wiggles."


We walked to the nearest tram stop and began to see the signs of fellow Wiggles faithful. There were Wiggles backpacks, Wiggles t-shirts, Wiggles dress up costumes (our son was decked in his Captain Feathersword outfit) and lots of little people with hopeful smiles on their faces waiting for a tram to take them to the venue. When the tram arrived, it was packed with even more Wiggles faithful--there were prams (strollers) and children, Mums and Dads, Aunts and Uncles, Grandparents--everyone it seems was on their way to see the Wiggles. We literally squeezed ourselves on to the tram in the various nooks and crannies that were remaining.


A few stops later we stepped off the tram in sheets of rain and cold wind and walked the short distance to the arena. We found our way into the arena and walked down the stairs, and down the stairs again and down, down, down until we reached the floor. It dawned on me then that these were the best seats I've ever had for any concert I've ever attended. I'm not sure if that is a sad statement about my previous concert going efforts or something to be celebrated. At any rate, the Handsome Australian gave me a big pat on the back and said, "Well done. Floor seats! I'm impressed. We're only six rows from the stage. Amazing." (This is why I love men. You can tell them something several times like, "I got us floor seats for the Wiggles and we'll be sitting six rows from the stage." and they'll never remember it. Then when they get to the event and notice the seating arrangement it's like they just discovered it themselves. "Wow! Aren't we lucky?" Yes everything is always new to them.) My Mother-in-law was also impressed with the good seats and the kids were thrilled with how close we were to the stage.

Immediately, the two little ones began pointing at the stage and the various backdrops waiting in the darkness for the Wiggles to appear.

We saw their instruments sitting to one side waiting to be played.Behind these billowing strips of fabric that were glowing yellow was a backdrop that looked like a circus meets a fairytale castle. It was bright, colourful and really, really festive. Our entire group couldn't wait to see what kind of magic the Wiggles would perform on this stage.

Unfortunately, these were the last two photos for which my camera was actually functioning. Once the concert began, my camera went fuzzy and took nothing but blurry psychedelic photographs. It was a sad, sad day for my camera.

Camera troubles aside, the lights went up and on the stage ballerinas and gymnasts came prancing and tumbling out on the stage. The children's eyes lit up in amazement. The costumes, the dancing, the flips--they were taking it all in. Then the crowd let out a big cheer of excitement when the Big Red Car came cruising on the stage carrying the four most important people there--Murray, Jeff, Sam and Anthony aka The Wiggles!! My youngest had a smile from ear to ear. I'm not sure I've ever seen him more excited. At one point he was actually physically shaking with excitement.

The concert continued with plenty of music, silly antics and a cast of colourful supporting characters who are loved just as dearly as the Wiggles themselves. Since we were so close the the stage, our children were able to leave their seats and dance in the aisles and up near the front of the stage--it was their own little Wiggles mosh pit! Our oldest danced her little heart out and did a wonderful job of protecting her brother from the various obstacles one encounters in a Wiggles mosh pit. She's a good sister.

In the meantime, I looked over at the Handsome Australian who had a big smile on his face. He wasn't singing any of the songs, but he seemed to be pretty pleased to be there. My mother-in-law was the same--she was very excited to see the children enjoying themselves so much. The Great Auntie and I on the other hand, were probably almost as excited as the children themselves. I caught myself singing along to most of the songs and dancing in my seat. I couldn't help myself (when you've listened to as much Wiggles as I have, it's almost impossible not to sing all the words). I had a huge smile on my face for several reasons--my kids were having a ball and it was great to see, my husband who rarely finds himself with the time to come to these events was there and able to witness their joy as well, my mother-in-law and the Great Auntie were enjoying themselves, and I can't help it, but I LOVE the Wiggles!

Yes, I just said I LOVE the Wiggles. Honestly, never before have I been to a concert where you could see such enthusiasm and enjoyment on the faces of the performers themselves. It is so obvious that the Wiggles and their entire cast and crew really do love what they do. Not only that, but they are humble and very grateful. I've been to three Wiggles concerts now with my children and each time at the very end, the Wiggles thank the parents and carers for making their way to the concert, buying the tickets and bringing the children along. It's a heartfelt thank you and it makes you feel appreciated. As a parent, I like their style.

All good things must come to an end though. The concert finally finished and we made our way out of the arena. Smiles plastered on every one's faces. In the back of my mind I was thinking, "I hope my kids still love the Wiggles next year--it would be a bit embarrassing coming without them!"

Wiggles Wonderment...still coming

I haven't forgotten to finish the post about the Wiggles Concert...because I know you are all waiting on the edge of your seats to hear all about it. I'm waiting to get some photos to post with it. My camera just gave up on me that day and so I'm waiting to get some from one of the other members of our party. It's coming. Hang in there! In the meantime I'll be posting as often as the Silly Season allows. It's getting sillier and sillier all the time. (Is sillier even a word?)

Wiggles Wonderment

Firstly, I must apologise for being away from the blog for so long. The silly season is well and truly taking over our lives at the moment and I don't see any relief in sight until after New Year's. That said, I'll do my best to keep posting when possible.

Today began as a wet and wild one. The wind was blowing and their were sheets of rain falling from the sky. It looked to be the kind of day that made you want to curl up in your bed and stay there all day with a good book. Unfortunately, back in June I made plans for today that required rising early and getting the Handsome Australian and our children dressed, ready and out the door by 8:30am--which is fine for a weekday, but this is Sunday people--it should be a day of rest.

What was so important that I was up making pancakes at 6:30am? The Wiggles that's what. Yes, that's right, Australia's second biggest export after Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter, were playing live at Rod Laver arena in Melbourne today. If you've had children in the last 15 or so years, then chances are you are familiar with the Wiggles and their music. Perhaps you are more familiar than you'd like to admit or even better, perhaps you are more familiar than you'd like to be!! Well, here is how it is at our house...

We LOVE the Wiggles. It wasn't always so. When I had my first child, I was determined her mind wouldn't be wasted on such mindless nonsense. I wasn't really familiar with the Wiggles then, but didn't like the idea of this new life in my charge spending endless hours in front of the TV watching four guys in turtlenecks jumping around and singing. Oh yes, we know so much as new parents don't we? Slowly but surely though, my daughter was exposed to the Wiggles at other people's houses. She liked them, but I never encouraged her by buying any of their DVDs or music. She didn't seem fussed. She had other favourites and still seemed free of the Wiggles disease.

Then my son was born and someone gave us a Wiggles DVD. My girl still didn't watch it much. We were still a pretty Wiggle neutral household. Time went on and favourites came and went. One day my girl got the Wiggles DVD from the shelf and we wiped the dust off of it and put it on. She was mildly amused, but the effect the music had on my son was amazing. He would have been just over 1 year old at the time. That was it. He was HOOKED. We watched the DVD maybe two more times before forgetting it again, but any time we were anywhere there was Wiggles merchandise, he was pointing and shouting, "Wiggles! Wiggles!. Talk about brand recognition--those DVDs had worked their black magic on his little mind.

A few months later, a family member gave my boy a Wiggles backpack in preparation for an upcoming trip to the USA. He was beside himself with glee. This is the kid who had seen the DVD three times. That's it. He wouldn't take the bloody thing off. He walked around with it for hours. He probably would have slept with it if I'd let him. Not usually one to give in to this brazen commercialisation, I found myself secretly pleased he had a focused interest because that would make distracting him during the 14 hour transpacific flight a little bit easier. So in addition to the backpack he'd been given, I went out and bought a few Wiggles figurines to surprise him with on the flight and a couple of Wiggles story and colouring books. (I think this is the point at which I became an enabler).

The tale of that 14 hour flight was something like this: We boarded the flight and he played with his Wiggles figurines quietly while we took off. The Qantas flight attendants came by with WIGGLES themed activity packs for the kids. A lucky coincidence really, but the little fellow was pleased nonetheless. Once the newness of the figurines and activity pack wore off (about 45 minutes later) I had a wiggly 18 month old on my hands. I looked across at my daughter who was engrossed in the video screen in front of her playing on demand children's shows. Ah hah--what a great idea. So I turned on the video screen in front of me and the wiggly one and searched through the Qantas Entertainment network until I came across--you guessed it--a Wiggles movie. I tried putting those cheap airplane headphones on his little head so he could watch the movie, but he kept pulling them off. I was a bit disappointed because I thought there is no way he'd watch the movie without the sound. What fun would that be?

I couldn't have been more wrong. 13 hours later, our plane touched down in Los Angeles. My daughter had slept for about nine of those hours. My son on the other hand, was awake for all but one of them. I know, you can hear him crying from where you are sitting right now can't you? You're thinking he was so overtired and upset that he was throwing all sorts of tantrums--because that's what any normal kid would do right? Well, this kid isn't normal. He watched that Wiggles movie over and over and over again. I think we must have seen 10 rotations of it. 10 rotations WITHOUT the sound. He just sat in my lap and watched it (I think it was then that my love affair with the Wiggles was born). Yes, I didn't get any sleep on that flight, but my kid sat still and didn't cry at any point so I call that a victory folks. Thank you Wiggles. Thank you. Thank you.

As my son's love for the Wiggles grew, so did mine. They were constantly getting me out of difficult situations--he was so easily distracted by anything Wiggles related that any difficult situation could be diffused by simply pointing to the Wiggles logo on the back of a book cover or singing a Wiggles song. I'm telling you the power they hold over my son is amazing.

So obviously, when the opportunity arose to take him to see the Wiggles live in concert, I simply had to take advantage. So back in June, I bought six tickets to see the Wiggles: one for me, one for the Handsome Australian, one for our girl, one for our boy and one for their Grandmother and Great Auntie who wanted to come along to see what all the fuss was about.

And what a day it was...

To be continued...