Beauty and the Beast...at a quick glance

I have a great group of friends from work that get together here and there with our kids. We have play dates in the summers and have gone to a few events this school year together. My friend Ellen planned and organized for all of us to see Beauty and the Beast at one of the high schools. I LOVE high school plays! I was so excited. I decided that Aubrin would not sit through a play and it would be in her best interest to stay home with daddy. I thought Jackson would love it. He loves the movie, so I thought this would be a great first play for him to see.

I didn't tell him until today after I put Aubrin down for her nap what I had planned. Aubrin would have been devastated knowing we were going to see Belle without her and I'm sure Jackson would not have kept it a secret. He was so excited when I told him. I THOUGHT it was going to be perfect.

As we were driving there, Jackson starting asking questions about the play, the music and the costumes. He really seemed as if he couldn't wait. Once we got there and inside he was a bit tired and just wanted it to start. I also found out when we got there that the play was 3 hours long. I didn't know if Jackson would last 3 hours, but we would stay as long as he would last.

Well, it didn't last long. As the play started Jackson said that he liked the music, was clapping between scenes... then the Beast came on stage. Jackson was sitting on my lap so he could see better. My arms were wrapped around him and all of the sudden I could feel his heart pounding so hard and fast. I didn't say anything, but I could feel that he was uncomfortable. He turned to me and said, " Can we please leave these seats right now?" I asked him what was wrong as big tears were in his eyes. He said, "I really don't like the Beast. He is really scary and I just need to leave right now." Is little heart was still pounding so hard and so fast. So we quietly got our coats on and left the theater. Once we got to the car he said, "Mom, I am so sorry if you are disappointed we had to leave. I just really didn't like him at all. He was so different from the movie." I told him it was nothing to be sorry about and it wasn't a big deal at all. On the way home we decided to stop of at the store and do a little grocery shopping and then head home. When we got home Aubrin met us at the door, very excited to show off her new pink toes that daddy painted for her. She thought they were pretty fancy and loved that daddy did them.

Once we were in the house and settled I pulled the program out of my purse and showed Jackson the picture of the boy that was playing the Beast and what he looked like under the costume. Then I dropped it and didn't talk about it the rest of the night.

Going to bed tonight was hard for Jackson. He said that he didn't want to go to bed because he was scared that he might have a dream. Poor guy. He snuggled with me on the couch for a bit and then Todd carried him up to bed. I sure hope he has a peaceful sleep.