We get to meet a STAR!

I have to share some VERY exciting news that we just received today! First though, I need to share a little back story so everyone understands our excitement. Last year, around Nick's birthday, we realized that "Elmo Live" was coming to perform in Topeka. At the time, Nick was IN LOVE with Elmo and we just knew he would be SO excited to see the performance. We paid $100 for 3 tickets, took the night off work, drove an hour to Topeka, and dropped Max of at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandma and Grandpa gave Nick an envelope with a $20 bill and instructions to spend it on something ridiculous that he really wanted. We were so excited to see the look on Nick's face when he realized that we were watching Elmo!! We got to the theater and bought Nick a t-shirt and a $15 Sesame Street flashlight thing that he had to have. We took our seats (right up in front) and ate licorice while we waited for the show to begin. The lights dimmed, music played, Elmo made his appearance and Nick.....well......Nick began screaming at the top of his lungs. He looked frantic and tried to get out of his seat and run out of the theater. I kept telling him, "look, it's just Elmo!" I really thought that he would calm down once he realized that he was seeing his hero in person, but he didn't. We moved to the very far back of the theater in hopes that his screaming would stop upsetting the other kids and that it would be quieter. Well...they had that damn music blasting so loud through speakers everywhere that it even made me want to cover my ears. We went outside of the theater to try and get Nick to calm down. As soon as we went back inside, the screaming began again. I tried showing Nick how to cover his ears and a super nice usher went and got some earplugs for us to try. Nothing worked :( Nick was so hysterical that people began moving out of our section and complaining to the usher. They made some comments that hurt my feelings so badly. We finally decided that we should leave if Nick wasn't able to enjoy the show. I asked the nice usher if there was a chance that we could meet Elmo after the show if we hung around outside. She told us that the cast left immediately afterwards to drive to another city. As soon as we left the building, I broke down in tears. I cried the whole way home.....mostly because I was SO unprepared for the reaction that Nick had. I have refused to even attempt to take him to any similar shows and told Allen that we will NOT be going to Disney World until Nick can handle the shows. Which brings me to today's exciting news.....

After the unfortunate Elmo Live experience, I sent an e-mail to the company that puts on the shows. I told them what happened, asked if Nick could meet the characters the next time they are in town and suggested they have a "sensory sensitive" showing in the future. I got some stupid form e-mail back that told me they do not have sensory showings. Jerks. I recently mentioned to Allen that Sesame Street Live is going to be at the Sprint Center this week and that there was no way in hell we were going...LOL. He didn't mention it to me, but my thoughtful husband sent another e-mail to the performance company explaining what had happened before and asking if there was a chance Nick might be able to meet the characters. Well....today he got a response telling us to be there at 12:40 on Sunday for a Meet and Greet with the characters!!!! They said that they can guarantee Elmo will be there and at least 2 other characters also! We can bring 4 people so we are trying to get someone to cover for Allen at work and think we will take Max also! I still don't think Nick is ready to deal with all the sensory issues involved in watching the performance, but he will be so happy to meet the characters!! I can't wait to see what he does!