A Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Day! (Well, except for the tantrum)

Yesterday, I took Tim and Maddie to Manchester to see the theater production of Mary Poppins (or as my dad would call it, "Mary Poopins"). Now you may not know this about me, but I love Mary Poppins! I have watched the movie many, many times. When I found out that they were making it into a musical, I knew I had to see it.

I found out a few months ago that there was a touring company production of the show coming to Manchester, which is a little less than 2 hours away. The base offered a day trip to go, but the price was outrageous! So, I looked into it myself, and was so pleased when I was able to buy all three tickets and train tickets for half of the price they quoted on base.

I told Tim and Maddie about a month ago that I had a special surprise for them. Tim was very excited, but Maddie said, "I don't want to go. I want to stay home." Now, if you know Maddie, you know that she has this keen ability to anticipate what emotional response someone expects from her, and then produce the exact opposite emotional response. So, I didn't let it bother me.

For the past few weeks, I've been trying to get Maddie excited about the show, and help her know what to expect. She seemed to warm up to the idea, so I didn't worry... too much.

So yesterday, Ethan stayed home from work to watch Collin, and the rest of us got on the train at Harrogate, and took it to Manchester (with a couple of transfers along the way... I was most nervous about doing that on my own). But, we made it just fine. We got there very early, and found a nice Italian restaurant to have lunch at. The kids were very happy to get pizza, and I was delighted to teach my kids what profiteroles were!

After lunch, we headed out the door to walk across the street to the theater. That's when the tantrum started. Maddie put on the brakes, and wouldn't walk an inch. She got this terrified look on her face, and she started to say, "I want to go home!"

So, not knowing what to do, I carried her across the street, trying to ask her what was wrong. When we got in line to go in the theater, she pulled out all the stops. She was now kicking, crying, and screaming, "I WANT TO GO HOME!!!" I have to say, the people around me were very understanding. I had three older women come up to me to try and help console her, and they showed great compassion to both of us. How grateful I was for that instead of condemming looks.

Anyway, when inside the theater, I found a little nook for me to set her down, and try to calm her down. Again, I tried asking her what she was feeling, and how I could help her. That didn't work, so then we called Daddy. That helped somewhat, and enabled us to sit down.

When the lights dimmed, Maddie started up again. But then Bert came out on the stage singing, and that was the end of the tantrum. Thank you Lord.

The show was just wonderful. It was quite different than the movie, actually, with the songs rearranged, and the plot and characters more developed. There were fun tricks like Bert walking up a wall, and Mary Poppins flying around over the audience. It was so much fun, and I was so delighted to share it with my kids. I loved looking over at Tim, who was wide-eyed throughout the play. His mind was very busy trying to figure out how they made the lights look like rain and the kites fly. After the show, we lingered behind, and I took the kids up to the front to see the orchestra pit. Tim loved that too!

We then headed out to the lobby and bought two outrageously overpriced souvenirs, and then we headed back to the train. It had been a very long day. But, except for the tantrum, it was "practically perfect in every way!"