If you by any chance have a little boy who is scared of plays, or even just scared of being scared, you might want to find this door the next time you go to the Seattle Children’s Theatre.
It’s the Quiet Room. I think it’s meant for screaming babies because there were a few in this room too and I think one was poopy. But, it also works well for 3 and a half year olds who are a little scared of Frog and Toad (who by the way are actually delightful, funny and not scary actors/characters who sing and dance). It’s a room where you can talk a little louder and move around while you try and watch a play without disturbing the rest of the theatre patrons.
We went to the play today after talking about Frog and Toad for months. We sat down in our seats and the terror began. The scared boy wanted to run from the theatre and the other didn’t want to leave.
Thank God we found the quiet room or I would have had to leave and it would have stung my pocket just a little after paying for tickets and parking and I would have had two screaming boys instead of just one. We lasted until the intermission because I bribed the boys with candy. I was helpless.
But the boys talked about the play the whole way home.
I’m not sure if I’m going to invest much more in theatre as it’s getting expensive and stressful. I will definitely need therapy if we go to another play soon. But if you haven’t read the books they are definitely delightful and I love reading them with my boys. And if you’re looking for a review of the play-the rest of the full theatre minus me, my guys and the poopy baby definitely seemed to be enjoying themselves.
PS. here are some happy boy pics for the grandmas who read this and need to be rewarded after such a rant:
Don’t stop taking them to plays. We’ve all had meltdowns with the kids. We’ve had many a play/ballet where one child didn’t like the plot (ballets with no plots…or speaking), and we’ve just either left, or taken the other outside.
They eventually get it, and sit for long periods. You just have it doubly hard, because you have two at the same age, so you have twice the chance of this happening.
Not to worry-over time, they sit, and enjoy the story. Something, sometimes just spooks them, and they get antsy, and you don’t know till you try.
Keep up the great work. To have even tried is pretty good. Keep taking them to familiar shows, like Disney. That can even spook if Hercules dies….
By the way, Quiet Room is a great idea. Kind of tells you that meltdowns/ refusals happen frequently.
They need a Quiet Room at the QE theatre for husbands who don’t like opera, too. So they can watch from a distance, and snore if they don’t enjoy La Traviata. (But I can’t see the surtitles; but I can’t read Latin….it’s Italian…).