a day in the life

song - mama says om

I haven't posted something for Mama Says Om in awhile... I guess you could say the holidays got the better of me. But, I saw this week's theme "SONG" and I had just the thing in mind. I wish I had the perfect photo to go with the story, but I didn't have a camera with me and felt like staging one now wouldn't be quite right. So, i am reposting a story from July... I hope you enjoy!


first rock concert at age 5

Three hours before Pearl Jam was to take stage at the LA Forum last night - the friend I was to go with was MIA - my boyfriend had injured his leg at work and couldn't bear the thought of standing for hours on end - and it seemed that every friend I called just couldn't make it. Now mind you, Pearl Jam has been my favorite band since they began about 15 years ago - I had been to the same concert the night before - and was about to just go by myself...

Well, needless to say I have exposed AJ to much of their music. And this kid just loves rock and roll! He has an electric guitar that santa brought him for Christmas and has been in piano lessons for about 3 months now and is flourishing! Every chance AJ gets to pick up the end of the hose nozel and put on a concert, he does.

So, after some careful consideration weighing the pros and cons with his father, I interupted his cartoons and asked: "So, how would you like to go do something so cool, that most kids your age never get the chance to?" He seemed to know what I was going to say next... and once I did... without hesitation... he was jumping up and down and flipping in circles, then he stopped in his tracks, looked at me and said, "I'll go get my shoes!".

He was in complete awe. It was amazing to watch and I knew we had made a good decision... for this child. AJ noticed everything: the lights, the people, the different color seats – and YES – everybody noticed him. I have to say, that we were very fortunate with the people sitting around us. Two young guys to the left were getting the little man hiped up about what he was about to see - "rock legends". And the woman to right, who reminded me so much of his Grandma Mary helped hail down the drink guy for some water. Aaron later commented... a guardian angel.

He only lasted about 45 minutes and I added another 30 by picking him up on and off (nearly 50 pounds now). And though we left about halfway through and I missed seeing Eddie perform another 90 minutes of amazing vocals - I wouldn't change it for anything. Seeing AJ pick up his guitar today (that he hasn't touched in a month or so) and start spouting out "I am a rock star!" was priceless!

We hope that it will be something that inspires him and motivates him with his ambitions in music and in anything he wants to do. It WILL be the first of many concerts to come! I never imagined we'd take him so young (maybe at 8 or 10, I thought), but with supervision and guidance I'd say it's an eye-opening and awe-inspiring experience.