You won't get any dancing here, it's illegal. Jump Back!!

One of my favorite summertime events for many years has been Music in the Park. Music in the Park is a gathering of children and moms and dads from the community in Kellogg Park, Plymouth. They gather to hear performers and dance and eat lunch and have fun. We have been faithful Music in the Park patrons since we moved here in 2001. Each Wednesday morning, I would get up early and throw blankets and chairs in my car and drive them up to the park and set them out so that we would be guaranteed a good spot in the front. In the beginning years, when Emily and Christopher were small, they would run up to the stage and dance the entire time of the performance. I began to notice a change in their enthusiasm about 2 years ago. Calvin does not like the spotlight and Spencer doesn't want to dance by himself. Emily and Christopher refuse to go anywhere near the dancers. So we sit on the blanket and eat our lunch and listen to the music. Today marked a new low in the experience for me when Emily declared that she didn't want to go and couldn't she just stay home. :( She stayed home and I took the boys and Anna and Lucy. Here's what my boys did for the hour we were there: Tore up styrofoam cups into tiny pieces, complained that it was too loud, dug in the dirt, begged for lemonade from Main Street Bank, signed up to win drawings for prizes, made faces at Lucy, laid on the blanket covering their ears, peeled all the labels off the water bottles, begged to go to see the fountain. So not only was Emily not there, but my boys weren't interested in the music or dancing. Little Lucy danced with Anna and I'll bet next summer she'll be on the sidewalk dancing her little heart out. Maybe she'll be able to get Cameron out there with her. Maybe you are wondering why I continue to go in spite of all the opposition I am receiving. It's 'cause I really like the music and the atmosphere. I like it and I'm going and I guess anyone under 12 in our family has to go too. So there.

My kids enjoying Music in the Park several years ago.

My kids today.