We’ve been taking Grace to see musical productions (ie: plays) since she was a little over two. The first one we saw was a high school production of Beauty and the Beast (which was actually better done than the professional one we later saw…) and the most recent was Wizard of Oz. In between we’ve seen everything from the Circus to Sesame Street Live to Princess on ICE and it always amazes me how people dress and act at the theater. Granted, Grace is almost four now, she’s seen the Lion King, Beauty and the Beast (twice) the Wizard of Oz and some other shows as places such as Atlanta’s Fox Theater and the Blumenthal Theater in Charlotte, NC. No matter what we’re going to see (well, except for shows at Phillips Arena) we make sure to dress nice (Sunday best) and impress upon Grace the importance of “acting like a princess”.

It amazes me how many people have no idea how to dress or act in an environment such as the Fox. Last night at the Wizard of Oz, there was a family behind us with small children both younger and older than Grace. Granted they were dressed appropriately (nice shirts and pants, the girls had on dresses) and for the most part they behaved alright. The problem wasn’t that they were talking during the play (I’d ask Grace what was coming up next in the Wizard, as she knows the movie and most of the songs by heart…) its that they were talking loud and kicking the back of the seats during the play. There’s a way you should behave in a setting like that and the younger a child knows how that is, the better that child will behave.

I don’t pretend to be the best parent around, there are plenty of things I screw up (it takes us two hours to get Grace to go to sleep…) but when it comes to behaving in public, I believe that as parents, Amy and I have done a good job at instilling in Grace the way she should act and I think that when Emma gets to be a little older, she’ll follow in her sisters foot steps (I HOPE!). It doesn’t take much to tell your child to stop kicking the back of a seat or to talk a little softer, and it goes a long way towards making good will in public.

The other thing I couldn’t believe last night was the way people dressed when going to the Theater. Now, I don’t mean the movie theater and I understand that is was a Sunday evening show during the hottest month of the year, but still. Shorts and t-shirts?? Come on. The crowd for the most part was dressed well, there was an over abundance of children present (it was the Wizard of Oz and not West Side Story) and for the most part, the children were dressed up (ranging from nice pants and shirts to suits and ties and dresses on the girls). The children weren’t the problem. It was the adults.

The number of people there in Tanks and shorts, or jeans and a t-shirt was staggering. I would have thought that if you were going to make an effort for a night out in Down Town you’d make an effort and at least dressed like you’d belong there. When Amy and I go by ourselves to a play at the Fox, its a coat and tie for me and a nice evening dress for Amy (granted, we take the opportunity to go out to eat a fancier restaurants on those rare occasions…). People need to get away from the casual and relaxed dress and get a little more formal every once in a while, its the ability to be civilized that separates us from other beings….