In my previous post, I talked about my annoyance with a mother who did little to control her toddler at an animal program. The toddler was either in the way or fussy--which were not the toddler's problems but her mother's. Her mother did little to remedy the situation, and that made it a bad experience for the rest of the crowd. However, I'm happy to say that I was in another program last night and had a very different experience.
The performers sang kid's songs to an audience that had parents who were aware of the others around them. That means that when their kids were being disruptive, they did something to change it. For example, there was a 3-year-old who was delighting in running in circles around the audience. When her mother finally caught her (the little girl was fast!), the girl had a tantrum. After a short while, when it was obvious that the child could not be redirected, the mother left with her. There was another toddler/baby who wandered around the back and sides of the audience under the watchful eye of her parents. When she was going a bit too far, they would redirect her. And at one point, they took her outside because she was getting a bit fussy. I don't think either set of parents wanted to leave the concert, but they knew that that's what you have to do sometimes-especially with young children.
After the show, I had an interesting conversation with the performers. They do kid's shows for a living and many concerts every year at schools and libraries. In fact, we were their third one of the day. That means they have a lot more experience with crowds than I do. They said, by and large, the behavior of the kids and the adults at their performances have gotten much better over the last several years. I was surprised and happy to hear it.
So that's the good news, and I will try to remember it when I get annoyed at someone in the crowd. They are the exception and not the rule.
