Beauty and the Beast

I attended the Broadway show, Beauty and the Beast, last week with my son.  When the show started I worried that he would be disinterested because it seemed to be a show that was geared to a younger set.  All he watches at home are shows like iCarly, Drake and Josh, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Vampire Diaries, and Smallville.  As it turns out, he loved it and said it was the best birthday gift ever.  Did I mention I won tickets to take him to this show?

http://southward.patch.com/articles/beauty-and-the-beast-at-njpac-thrills-patch-contest-winners
I tried taking him to see Beauty and the Beast two or three years ago.  We stood in the long Tickets line in Times Square to get discounted tickets.  It was freezing outside and we made it to the line long before it got out of hand, however, before we got there, my son wanted to stop at Toys R Us and ride the indoor ferris wheel and get a toy.  I was on a budget and so I asked him if he was sure he wanted to do that when we didn't know how much tickets would be for the show.  He said yes, so I let him get what he wanted, thinking we might just make it. When it was our turn at the Tickets window, we found that the tickets were $67.50 each.  I was $40 short (the cost of our trip to Toys R Us) and there was no ATM machine anywhere nearby.  The attendant was not willing to hold the tickets for us, as it wasn't the policy to do so.  My son burst into heartwrenching tears of sorrow and my heart broke.  I hugged him and moved out of the way for the next person in line.  I had to explain to my son how things work in the world and how our decisions affect us, sometimes immediately, sometimes later on.
The show was amazing and I'm grateful that I was there to watch some of the expressions on his face.  He was so engrossed and when the boy in front of him kept moving around and blocking my son's view, I switched seats with him so he would have an unobstructed view and enjoy the show.  He felt so grown up as he drank his coffee, ate his snack and watched the show.  I can't wait to create more more memories like this with him.