My baby is growing up...but just a little!

I took Ben to his first concert last night. We went to see Avril Lavigne at the JLC; the opening act was Boys Like Girls - a rockin' boy band. Apparently they're hot...at least according to the young ladies that were standing next to us...I mentioned to them that I'm old enough to be their mother. Eyes got big and jaws dropped just a little...lol

And yeah, standing...we had "general floor admission"...which meant for 3 hours of blaring, bone jarring music (omfg I sound OLD...LOL) that left my ears ringing, we stood. My back & legs were killin' me today, not to mention my hearing was a little off!

Early on, Ben was complaining that he couldn't see (he's only 11 - he's short!) & asked if he could go up to the front closer to the stage - I have no idea how many people were there...but the venue was pretty much full to capacity, save for maaaaaaaaybe 250 of the eleventy thousand seats. While I'm generally pretty protective (think mama bear) of him, I didn't think much could happen what with all the security & crowd control...so I let him go. It was pointless for me to try and keep an eye on him - he was out of my sight instantly like he'd gone into a corn field.

I worry more about those he might encounter than him really - I asked him once (of many conversations we've held on the subject) what he'd do if someone ever tried to take him or touch him inappropriately. His response encouraged me in that he's capable of at least attracting plenty of attention to himself (like I didn't know that...lol) if he found himself in a situation he was having difficulty in controlling...he told me that he'd scream, fight, kick, bite & scratch...whatever! And if that didn't work..."I"d kick him in the balls Mum!" I asked him what he'd do if it was a woman who tried to grab him...and he said..."she'd get one right in the crotch too!" (Hehe...that's my boy! ;) )

At the end of the show, when the house lights came back up I started searching for him...and that's when I got the tap on the shoulder. I turned to face a burly security guard..."are you Christine?" he asked. I nodded and he said that they had Ben - he was ok, but he was worried because he couldn't find me. Ben had told them that we'd gotten separated when I left the floor to go use the bathroom and he just got pushed up through the crowd when security found him and took him under their wings. So the end result was he had his own JLC staffer sitting with him in nearly the best seats in the house watching him while his irresponsible mother had just wandered off! He'd had a grand time dancing his little heart out and wasn't a bit concerned that they hadn't found me...

So...while I'm not ready to send him out into the big, bad world all by his lonesome...I am confident he's growing up to be a capable, self-reliant young man.