Symphony

One of the silent auction items at the Children's Museum fundraiser was a family pass to the Bozeman Symphony family concerts. The family concerts are actually during the dress rehearsals so the kids get to hear the same great performance, without the awful distraction of a child interrupting or being freaked out by a large crowd. If your child gets noisy, you can leave the auditorium (guests are seated in the balcony only, making this easier to do without distracting the musicians during the practice/performance) and then re-enter when your child is ready to sit quietly again.

We attended our first concert (and Ellie's first ever symphonic performance) last Friday night. It was very good and I'm really glad we went, but Ellie was very busy. For the first while she was quiet, just up and down (on the floor, not on the chair) and up and down and dancing to the music. Then she started talking about the things she was seeing ("Violins! Look at the violins!") and we had to take her out into the hall. We talked to her about being quiet when we watch the symphony and how she needed to whisper. Then we went back in. She was good for a while until she started talking and wiggling again and we had to take her out again.

After a while I quit going back to my seat. I just held her inside the door and we listened and as soon as she said anything in a non-whisper voice we went back out in the hall to talk about not talking during the concert. In and out. In and out. The good news is that the doors were propped open, so we didn't make any noise actually going through the door, which is good. And part of the reason that we wanted to do these concerts is to teach her how to act appropriately during them. Sitting still and being quiet are things she doesn't do well. She talks non stop. She moves non stop. So we're working on it. I think she really liked the concert, and Leif and I took turns taking her out into the hall so we each got to enjoy part of it, too. It's a good program and I'm really glad our symphony does that for families. And hopefully by the end of the season we'll be able to sit and enjoy the concert quietly, as a family, and not out in the hall. =D