Peter Pan

Last weekend I had tickets to see Peter Pan at one of very few local theatres. I must admit I felt quite stupid once the show started.

My five year old loved the show; he sat upright on the edge of his seat for the entire performance. He was sitting next to our neighbors five year old daughter and her six-year-old cousin. Yet he watched the show and did not act like a five year old.

At first I was confused. Who was this older woman swinging around in a Peter Pan outfit, I thought we were going to see Cathy Rigby up there swinging around! I kept looking and looking, rereading the program and it suddenly hit me. It was Cathy Rigby swinging around up there. Why she was as old as I am, yet I expected to see her as she was in her teens.

It did not dawn on me that she too aged. I remember watching her in the Olympics and that is the image that stuck in my head, so when we got the tickets it was that image I had expected to see. I did not expect to see a grandmother who could still do handstands and swing around on a cable.

it was a nice show and I did enjoy seeing it. My boy thought it was a great show, but he informed me that he can not do that again. I didn’t understand what he meant until I reevaluated his behavior.

We arrived before the neighbor, and when they did arrive he acted strange. he made sure he had the seat that would assure him a position of sitting next to the neighbors little girl, yet when she arrived and sat next to him he had a grin on his face and acted all giggly. I haven’t seen him act this way before around her.

So, his statement about not being able to do that again, it was his reaction to a change. Already at five he is sensing something different between boys and girls. How soon it starts, and where is my little boy going. I am not ready for this, and certainly not ready to lose my toddler.