Halloween IS October 31st! (And Dr. Dog ticket giveaway!!)

30 Oct 2013 Leave a comment

by last bit of sanity in Dr.Dog, Parenting 101, ticket giveaway Tags: , , , , , ,

Halloween is a ‘holiday’ that is always celebrated on Oct.31st – no matter if it falls on a Tuesday or if it is snowing! Traditionally, it is a celebration on the night before All Saints Day (Nov.1). This year, in Louisville, we have an interesting situation – bad weather (or more accurately, bad weather is being predicted). The weather forecasters have been telling us for a few days that we should expect rain, wind, hail, and a slight tornado risk. Sounds like JUST the type of weather I want to take my kids out in. Riiiight!

Some of the smaller, incorporated cities in the area have ‘moved’ trick or treating to Friday or Saturday night. The Mayor’s office said that government isn’t in the trick or treating business, so they weren’t making a recommendation on when people should trick or treat. So….there has been a grassroots effort to get the word out about pushing the date back one day – to Friday. I can totally appreciate the thought, idea, and effort people have put into changing it. I don’t want my kids to be in danger. I don’t want to be the bad guy and tell them that they can’t go. I don’t want to disappoint them.

But, you know what? Part of my job as a parent is to prepare my kids to be successful adults. And part of that is learning that life can’t always be perfect and sometimes you have to go with the flow. I haven’t cancelled Halloween for them – I’ve offered an alternative (to have some neighbors over, on Halloween, for chili and indoor trick or treating). The idea of Halloween is dressing up and having fun with friends. Oh, yeah….and getting gobs of candy. They will have all of that, just in a different form. And in the future, I hope the weather is perfect and they look back on this year and think of how much fun it was. Or at least have an appreciation for good Halloween weather!

I also hope they acquire skills that help them problem solve, as well as the ability to be flexible in certain situations. I think our society has set up our kids for failure in adult life by making everything perfect for them. Hello – give every kid a trophy for every sport they play, starting at age 3!! Life isn’t perfect. If this is their expectation, then they are in for a rude awakening! It is much more beneficial to help your kids navigate through life’s ups and downs with the proper tools and expectations than it is to (try to) make them happy all of the time. Give your children something they will really thank you for when they are adults.

The point of this post is not to judge other parents and their decision for their family!! The real point was to work out, for myself, why I was so against moving Halloween. And I am sharing my thought process because I am guessing that I am not alone (okay, so I am hoping that I am not alone!).

Now for the Dr. Dog ticket giveaway! My loss is your gain! I can’t use my tickets for their SOLD OUT show on Saturday night at Headliners in Louisville. So…like my Facebook page, Last Bit Of Sanity, and post what your favorite Halloween costume was as a kid. Or if you like to tweet, then you can tweet it. And if you want to double your chances, share a link to this post (tag Last Bit Of Sanity) on Facebook or Twitter. I will randomly select a winner. I will leave you with a Halloween themed Dr. Dog song, Vampire. Funny how these things come together sometimes. Ha!

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a white blank page and a swelling rage

01 Oct 2011 3 Comments

by last bit of sanity in Mumford & Sons, Music, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Nothing like a whirlwind, band following trip to force you to accept the fact that yes, we are getting older. Note, I didn’t say old…there is a HUGE difference between older and old.  Trust me.

It has been nearly a year since hubby and I had our epic music weekend.  It started a a Friday night with a) My Morning Jacket in Louisville for hubby and friends and b) The Avett Brothers at the Ryman in Nashville for my Dad & I and friends.  It was a hard decision, but I couldn’t miss my Avetts, even though they were playing two nights in a row, I couldn’t miss a song!!  On that Saturday, hubby and other friends drove down and we all saw The Avetts with Grace Potter (holy smokes…she is HOT!).  And Grace surprised us with a guest appearance by Kenny Chesney, who had traded in his cowboy hat and boots for a skull cap and tennis shoes! We knew The Avett Brothers would be amazing as the crowd belted out the lyrics to Bon Jovi’s Livin On A Prayer while we waiting for them to take the stage (which they did in full mummy costumes, since it was the night before Halloween).

Those shows would have been enough to satisfy most people, but not me.  I had been listening to Mumford & Sons for a while and knew as soon as I heard they would be in Nashville that I must be there to see this English folk band (I know…you usually don’t hear those words together!)  Unfortunately for us, they were playing the day after Halloween and we couldn’t stay there for an extended weekend after The Avett’s show, since the foursome would be counting on us to be home so they could fill their bags with a parent’s worst nightmare…sugary hell! But I was determined and hubby just nodded and said yes. So, we turned around the day after Halloween and made the trek back down to Nashville. And we never regretted it!!

Mumford & Sons put on an amazing show that had everyone dancing and singing along…I love the how much the crowd is singing along in the video below.  I am not sure how they were able to walk off the stage at the end…they had put everything into the show. It was pure energy! I think I could have watched the keys player play all night….man, he was good and so into it!  We were also treated to a surprise guest for the encore…Old Crow Medicine Show. I am not sure how many people were on stage for the encore, but it was packed!  I was looking for a video from that show and not surprising, I could only find one good one…everyone was too busy jumping around to video!

I am sure you are wondering why I am talking about a show that was 11 months ago….well, the memories of that night came flooding back when I saw that Mumford & Sons are going to be the on season opener of Austin City Limits tonight.  Don’t worry if you miss it, they usually replay it regularly (check your local listings here: PBS schedule).  As I watched the promo video my heart started pumping fast again, I started singing along and then I immediately checked their tour schedule (nothing close unless you are in CA…California and Canada).  These guys are good and I think I drove the whole 2.5 hours home from the show on a complete music high!!  This video proves that they don’t need a lot of fancy stuff to sound good.  Now, if I could just figure out how to get them to play in MY backyard….