Biever Fever: An Enjoyable Night Out with my Pre-Teen
What I thought would be another ho-hum Monday night turned out to be one of the most memorable nights ever.
My 12 year old daughter, Charista, and I hit the town. And not just doing any old thing, but one of the most exciting things that we could ever have done together: Attend a Justin Bieber concert.
It was Veterans Day, so schools was not in session in observance of this important holiday to honor our servicemen and women. After a busy half-day of crown and bridge at the office, I was happy for some quality time with my three daughters. I helped them with their homework, cooked them a nice lunch.
Over my mushroom chicken and sautéed garlic spinach, their favorites, Charista mentioned Justin Bieber was in town and that some of her friends from school were going that night to see him at the brand-new Barclays Center in Brooklyn. How lucky they were and how much fun they would have, she said.
Normally, I do not splurge on such spontaneous luxuries, constantly instilling in my children the importance of the value of money and working hard and sacrifice... especially on a school night. But Justin Bieber was an exception, you see.
Whereas Tatiana and Angelica, my 9-year-old twins, are not fans, Charista and I are quite the opposite. Not only do both we enjoy his music, we both think he is downright adorable. His CD's play in my car ad nauseum and, like most busy moms with active children who play multiple sports, I'm always in my car. I've learned to love him.
What I thought would be another ho-hum Monday night turned out to be one of the most memorable nights ever.
My 12 year old daughter, Charista, and I hit the town. And not just doing any old thing, but one of the most exciting things that we could ever have done together: Attend a Justin Bieber concert.
It was Veterans Day, so schools was not in session in observance of this important holiday to honor our servicemen and women. After a busy half-day of crown and bridge at the office, I was happy for some quality time with my three daughters. I helped them with their homework, cooked them a nice lunch.
Over my mushroom chicken and sautéed garlic spinach, their favorites, Charista mentioned Justin Bieber was in town and that some of her friends from school were going that night to see him at the brand-new Barclays Center in Brooklyn. How lucky they were and how much fun they would have, she said.
Normally, I do not splurge on such spontaneous luxuries, constantly instilling in my children the importance of the value of money and working hard and sacrifice... especially on a school night. But Justin Bieber was an exception, you see.
Whereas Tatiana and Angelica, my 9-year-old twins, are not fans, Charista and I are quite the opposite. Not only do both we enjoy his music, we both think he is downright adorable. His CD's play in my car ad nauseum and, like most busy moms with active children who play multiple sports, I'm always in my car. I've learned to love him.
Moreover, memories were still so clear in my mind of when I took Charista and her little friends a few years ago to see the Justin Bieber movie, "Never Say Never." The girls all sat straight in a row in the theatre, side by side, eating popcorn and Goobers, giggling and singing along. It was fun watching them have fun. I consciously tried to memorize every second of that afternoon, knowing it would soon be a treasured memory.
And I was right. Charista is now in eighth grade and had just taken the TACHS Catholic high school entrance exam last week. That she will be a high school freshman in September is mind-blowing.
She has matured so much lately: more self-assured, more focused on school and her swimming, more of a young woman than a little girl. At 5'6" she is taller than I, not to mention smarter and more beautiful. As a mom, I thank God every day and am so proud of her, as well as her younger sisters, for whom she is such a good and thoughtful role model.
On some level, maybe I wanted to cling onto every possible experience I could share with her because she was growing up so fast. After all, my friends with older children warn me that high school years fly by faster than any other part of their kids' education.
So against my better judgment, Charista and I cleared away the lunch dishes and promptly trawled the internet for two tickets -- on not one, but two computers. A few Google searches and faster than you can say, "swaggy," I decided to splurge and clicked the "place order" button. It all happened so quickly, despite our repeated difficulty in deciphering the almost illegible hieroglyphics on Ticketmaster.com to prove we were humans.
Barclays Center in Brooklyn is accessible most easily by subway so by subway we did go. Look at us, I thought, so mass transit-savvy! She wore her leather jacket, because she said that was what "Beliebers" do, their signature. Okay and whatever, I said, just don't flaunt your iPhone and hold on tight to your Coach wristlet.
And I was right. Charista is now in eighth grade and had just taken the TACHS Catholic high school entrance exam last week. That she will be a high school freshman in September is mind-blowing.
She has matured so much lately: more self-assured, more focused on school and her swimming, more of a young woman than a little girl. At 5'6" she is taller than I, not to mention smarter and more beautiful. As a mom, I thank God every day and am so proud of her, as well as her younger sisters, for whom she is such a good and thoughtful role model.
On some level, maybe I wanted to cling onto every possible experience I could share with her because she was growing up so fast. After all, my friends with older children warn me that high school years fly by faster than any other part of their kids' education.
So against my better judgment, Charista and I cleared away the lunch dishes and promptly trawled the internet for two tickets -- on not one, but two computers. A few Google searches and faster than you can say, "swaggy," I decided to splurge and clicked the "place order" button. It all happened so quickly, despite our repeated difficulty in deciphering the almost illegible hieroglyphics on Ticketmaster.com to prove we were humans.
Barclays Center in Brooklyn is accessible most easily by subway so by subway we did go. Look at us, I thought, so mass transit-savvy! She wore her leather jacket, because she said that was what "Beliebers" do, their signature. Okay and whatever, I said, just don't flaunt your iPhone and hold on tight to your Coach wristlet.
Huge, noisy throngs of tweeners were abuzz and slowly filled the stadium when we emerged on the R train escalators onto Atlantic Avenue. We bought the obligatory overpriced $50 concert tee shirt and settled into our lower-level-but-not-on-the-floor-
A fantastic montage of memories we made that night, just Charista and I. Bieber sure puts on a spectacular show. The lasers were well-planned, the choreography well-executed and the fireworks and lighting design unexpectedly impressive. Jaden Smith and Cody Simpson opened, and their girlfriends, Kylie and Kendall Jenner, were there, too. Their seats were a little better than ours. Okay, a lot better. But we were thrilled nonetheless.
Charista received texts from friends telling her that Jay-Z was there, as well as the boy band, One Direction, of which Harry Styles is part. She has said on numerous occasions that she is the future Mrs. Styles, so I assumed Harry was her favorite and seriously thought my poor daughter would faint dead away if we ran into him. We never did, of course, but she still spent quite some time scouring the floor seats, in search of him.
The Biebs made a grand entrance, clad all in white, floating high above in a harness, enormous wings made of cymbals and guitars spread wide, much to the delight of 18,000 people.
A fantastic montage of memories we made that night, just Charista and I. Bieber sure puts on a spectacular show. The lasers were well-planned, the choreography well-executed and the fireworks and lighting design unexpectedly impressive. Jaden Smith and Cody Simpson opened, and their girlfriends, Kylie and Kendall Jenner, were there, too. Their seats were a little better than ours. Okay, a lot better. But we were thrilled nonetheless.
Charista received texts from friends telling her that Jay-Z was there, as well as the boy band, One Direction, of which Harry Styles is part. She has said on numerous occasions that she is the future Mrs. Styles, so I assumed Harry was her favorite and seriously thought my poor daughter would faint dead away if we ran into him. We never did, of course, but she still spent quite some time scouring the floor seats, in search of him.
The Biebs made a grand entrance, clad all in white, floating high above in a harness, enormous wings made of cymbals and guitars spread wide, much to the delight of 18,000 people.
He sang "Beauty and the Beat" and some oldies, like "Baby" and "Somebody," and "That Should Be Me." The noise level would have been intolerable were it not for my Classic Pharmacy-issued ear plugs, a little trick I learned at a Jonas Brothers concert many years ago. Whatever happened to them? But I digress.
Despite my urging for her to just watch and enjoy the moment, Charista took lots of iPhone photos and video of the concert, as did most of the audience, from the countless lights of cell phone screens that twinkled throughout. Instagram and Facebook must have lit up like Christmas tree those two hours, as well as YouTube.com the next day.
Charista beamed when Justin sang "Boyfriend" and "As Long As You Love Me," and, truth be told, I personally was quite ridiculously thrilled when he sang "Die in Your Arms," my favorite. And please don't judge. Again, I remind you I'm constantly immersed in Justin Bieber songs in the car because of my three daughters.
That is my story and I am sticking to it.
Despite my urging for her to just watch and enjoy the moment, Charista took lots of iPhone photos and video of the concert, as did most of the audience, from the countless lights of cell phone screens that twinkled throughout. Instagram and Facebook must have lit up like Christmas tree those two hours, as well as YouTube.com the next day.
Charista beamed when Justin sang "Boyfriend" and "As Long As You Love Me," and, truth be told, I personally was quite ridiculously thrilled when he sang "Die in Your Arms," my favorite. And please don't judge. Again, I remind you I'm constantly immersed in Justin Bieber songs in the car because of my three daughters.
That is my story and I am sticking to it.
