Lynda Loveland: A boy's take on the theater

I hope you all had the chance to go see Cinderella at the Progress Energy Center. I thought it was great. I took my three-year-old princess daughter and five-year-old son to see it while my oldest daughter was away at a Y Princess outing.

I knew my youngest would absolutely dig it. I was a little worried about my son. It was Cinderella after all. Not a single superhero in the story, unless you count the Prince but he doesn’t have any superpowers. Despite the lack of a super-presence he genuinely seemed interested.

I went there expecting the worst, but hoped for the best. You see, my son can be a bit trying in public. Luckily we had seats up front so the show kept the kids' attention. That and a couple bags of chips didn’t hurt. The first half went very smoothly. Even during intermission, an older woman sitting next to Caiden kept him busy. (She was probably 8 or so.) The kids got up and would occasionally look over the little fence into the orchestra pit, but the intermission was pretty uneventful. I was still waiting for the other shoe to drop though. You know as a mom, you can never let yourself get too comfortable. Because the second you do, it all blows up in your face. You gotta be on your guard.

The second act started and the kids settled in. Carys kept asking where Cinderella was. She was waiting for the glamorous version. She’d had enough of the rag dress. She wanted glass slippers and a tiara! I happened to look at my watch and realized we’d been there for almost two hours. It was almost over and I was soooo close to a successful outing. So close.

It was the final scene, the wedding. Caiden had crawled onto my lap at this point. Carys was enthralled by the finery on stage. Cinderella and her Prince embraced and gave each other a big kiss. Remember we’re sitting on the front row, mere feet from the actors. Caiden, my wonderful, outspoken son, lets out with a loud “Ewwwww, that’s dis-GUS-tin!” Perfect record blown!!! I swear I saw the shoulders shaking on Cinderella and the Prince. I’m hoping it was just because they got a chuckle out of it.

By the way, I earned a feather in my cap that day. We made it past the booth selling oodles of Princess stuff without spending a dime!!!! Oh, and no tantrums either! Double bonus points.