Last week I noticed about three conversations in my facebook timeline from real people (not these funny virtual people like bloggers, you know) talking about taking their children to the theatre. It dawned on me that I've never done anything like that with Lara... perhaps I should?
Then I thought again. Lara is two and a half... and wiggly. Lara can't sit still for more than 20 seconds. How would I ever take her to the theatre? Surely we'd end up leaving after 20 seconds and totally wasting our money? Or perhaps she would be enthralled and surprise me by staying glued to her seat? It seems like an expensive gamble to me.
Last summer, at around the time of her second birthday, we took Lara to the cinema to watch Winnie the Pooh. Although she did enjoy most of it, I think she found the drama of the big screen a bit overwhelming and she screamed through much of the movie and insisted on sitting on my lap. Watching the same film at home, she is a lot more relaxed (mind you, she won't sit on the sofa watching it and prefers to walk around the room and dance during the movie).
Before Lara came into our lives, we quite regularly used to see plays in London; in fact, we watched two in the run up to her birth (and the bump freaked out at Blood Brothers) because we knew it could be a while before we went again. And so, every time my monthly copy of my Mum's comping magazine drops through my letterbox, I read through and see really tempting competitions for fun sounding things like Lion King Tickets and then make the decision not to enter because I just can't picture it working. (Now I've written that it sounds silly because if there was ever a cheap way to make the 'should-I-take-Lara-to-the-theatre gamble', it would be to win the tickets).
What do you think? Am I being totally unmellow? Should I try taking Lara to see the Lion King? or the Gruffalo? or Peppa Pig or even Hairy Maclary on stage? Should my 2 year old be more cultured?
