In January we were feeling reckless. Brave... stupid if you will. We decided that Christmas hadn't quite been stressful enough, and rather than spend the month hibernating like most people do after the social marathon that is December, we booked ourselves in to a pantomime!
Not just any old panto, this was the annual spectacular that is the local Amateur Dramatic Society performance. What this essentially means, is that the show takes place in a small church hall, to an audience of about 70 people. It is a very intimate experience, which only becomes more interactive when the booking team reserve you the front row because you have a booking of 16 people and it's just "easier".
This meant that for Noah's first ever trip to any kind of show, we were sat front and centre for the entire THREE HOUR retelling of Robin Hood. Parents of autistic children or with sensory processing disorder will understand what I mean when I say my husband and I were SCARED.
We had sweets, we had juice, we had things for him to fidget with, but none of that was enough to stop Noah's almighty scream when the music kicked in for the opening number and the dancing began less than 2 metres from our seat. For a good couple of minutes I thought we were about to haul him out of that hall faster than a politician changes his mind.
Bless the hearts of those cast members in the first number. I caught more than one glance in our direction with a look that screamed "Crikey, we're not that bad are we?", but they powered through despite the noise. After what felt like DAYS, but was really just 120(ish) endless seconds, Noah began to calm down, and was instead staring open mouthed at the stage with thinly veiled disgust. A full packet of sweets, a fruit shoot and a little bit of time to adjust had him actually swinging his legs and following the lights around the stage, and by the interval he was actually enjoying himself (much to the relief of the cast I'm sure!).
I'm equally shocked and thrilled to report that despite the initial hairy moment, it actually turned out to be a huge success. Noah quite liked the music and was genuinely watching the stage for most of the show. He sat in his chair beautifully for a lot of it, but when he did need a break, being in that front row gave us some space for him to move around without disturbing anyone else.
As the show finished and we filed out, an older lady even approached me to say how well he'd done getting through the whole show, which I really appreciated.
The moral of this particular story I guess is, BE reckless, brave, and a little bit stupid. Do the 'thing', whatever it is, that you're scared to do. It might actually be okay, but you won't know till you give it go. Reserve the right to bail out, and try it anyway. I will definitely be taking Noah back to the pantomime next year, and who knows where else next!
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