Christmas at Main Street Music Hall

Last night the family attended Christmas at Main Street Music Hall in Osage Beach, MO. They invited Military members and their families as special guest. Last week Kevin came home with a flier and we thought it looked interesting so we went. When we got there, they gave Kevin a plaque called a "Hero Award" with his name on it thanking him for his volunteer service to our country. We got pretty good seating in the theater and we were told to make sure afterwards to come by and get gifts for the kids.

The show was AWESOME! At the beginning, I was real emotional as they sang "I'll Be Home for Christmas". For those who have been reading this blog for the last couple months you know I'm so happy and grateful to have Kevin home so yes I get to be a big emotional sap. They sang traditional Christmas songs and fun Christmas songs and had some silly acts as well. After intermission right as the second act was about to start, they honored the Military. I was surprised that not as many active duty military took advantage of this special event but it was pretty neat to have so many people clapping and honoring Kevin. They even took a moment to honor our Veterans and I got to stand.

The second act was so good, they focused on the real meaning of Christmas and sang some of my favorite hymns. They had the most beautiful rendition of "Mary, Did You Know", oh it brought tears to my eyes. It was just beautiful.

After the show they told the Active duty military to stick around and get some gifts that were donated. This is where the evening took a turn for me. On the flier we got, it mentioned that kids 10 and under would receive free gifts. I thought this was kind of weird but okay...not a big deal. As we were waiting to let Daniel get his gift, they handed Kevin a big gift bag with some tools in it. They were handing out gifts to the Active Duty Military. That was pretty nice. Well as Daniel was getting his gift, people were kind of being crazy and pushy. Some of the toys were kind of pushed all over and so Neil picked up a box of shoes to move them so they wouldn't get stepped on. At that moment, one of the men in charge said VERY rudely to Neil, "Put those shoes down, you are not under 10!" and then he shoved the remaining toys back so no one else could reach them. Now...was that really necessary? I don't think it was. Poor Neil was so stunned, that he looked like he was going to cry. I had to step away because I really wanted to let that man have it! I took the boys and went to the back of the crowd, I was talking to Neil, making sure he was okay. Neil is my most sensitive child who has to deal with some emotional issues/disorders. He has really come into his own the past couple years, but incidents like this can really make him backslide.

At that point, I was just going to chalk the situation up to the man being overwhelmed with the situation because so many people were hanging around. Oh, can I just mention here that the theater we were at is not huge, when they asked the Active Duty military to stand up, there weren't that many. However, there were TONS of people afterward claiming the free gifts. Integrity people, integrity.

So one of the ladies was talking to Kevin, the boys and I were waiting towards the back when all of a sudden we saw kids OLDER then Neil walking around with some of the free gifts, 2 and 3 of them. Neil looked even more hurt then before. I was SO angry. There were many gifts leftover that they started to just hand out to people waiting. Things that older kids would have enjoyed, why couldn't they have just given those to kids over 10 to begin with? It really was a confusing situation for my boys.

Please don't get me wrong, I am grateful for the gesture and Kevin and Daniel got some really nice things. But when you tell a Military Family that you are going to honor their "FAMILY" you need to make sure you include all of them. Oh and let me add here, that after the show they got all the active duty military to stand on the stage for a group picture. Some of the performers we walking through shaking hands and a couple totally snubbed the females. It was CRAZY. I guess they thought they were spouses, but hey people, WOMEN SERVE TOO!

There was no reason for that man to be as rude as he was, none. You null and void a kind gesture when you follow it with rudeness, I should call him Mr. Grinch because he stole some light from my children. Last night was yet another reminder to me that people lose sight of what Christmas is about.

We had a good night up until that point, the show was AMAZING, we definitely want to go check them out again. As far the Grinch, I will be writing him a letter. If it was unintentional and he was overwhelmed with the situation then an apology to my son should not be a big deal. If it's too much, then that will let me know that we don't need to return back to that venue ever again.

Here are a few pics..it was dark, I have a crappy digital..lol

Is it hard to say "excuse me"?

Did I miss the memo where etiquette has been phased out?

I know, I know...I need to learn to lower my expectations.

Let me say, that my kids are far from perfect, I know this, but really we have been blessed that our kids are for the most part pretty good kids.

This morning we attended a Breakfast with Santa and it just really amazed at how rude some people were. I literally got a bottle of syrup taken out of my hand as I was getting ready to pour it..by someone who had butted in line to get the syrup. I mean she did giggle as she took it, so I guess that made it okay. If she had asked before she grabbed, I would have given it to her. Not even a minute later, Kevin was about to pour syrup on his pancakes when a kid snatched the bottle out of his hand! I was like, really?

Later, as we were helping to clean up, a bunch of kids were snacking on some of the leftovers. After a while, my kids followed suit. I reminded them nicely that we don't walk around eating, when we throw our plates away , that means we are done. I actually had a lady who stopped, stared at me and then walked stiffly away from me. For the record, I didn't say a thing to anyone's kids but my own. This is something that we teach our kids because it's rude and unsanitary. I didn't say it loud enough where anyone but my kids and this lady could hear (only because she was standing close enough to hear me). A few minutes later as Michael was helping another kid vacuum the floor, they had to keep stopping because people would walk in their way or when they got to certain places, there would be a gaggle of adults talking and they wouldn't move, even when the boys said "excuse me." Other adults were walking around eating and dropping crumbs all over the floor where the boys had just vacuumed. It just really makes me wonder about people.

I decided we better leave before I was annoyed even more. I made the mistake of stopping at the commissary for a few things. We were bumped into, shoved past and not one utter of a "pardon me" or "excuse me". Neil almost got knocked over by some girl who shoved past him. Then the mom gave us a dirty look like we were wrong. I seriously wanted to forget I had any form of manners and slap her.

What happened to manners? Sure, my kids forget, what kid doesn't but I correct immediately. It really makes me sad that etiquette seems to be a practice that is dying out.

I am really thinking I have some unrealistic expectations...but I don't care, I'll still enforce the practice of respect and manners in my kids...

Military Entitlement

This is a subject that really irks me...a lot. I know some may disagree and I can respect that and will respect that but since this is my blog, I can and will write about MY perspective on the matter.

One of the people I have on my FB is married to a person in the military, okay, I have a lot of people on my FB who are members of the military, so that was kind of a stupid statement.

One of my FB "friends" who is married to a member of the military posted on their status something about how ticketmaster didn't appreciate the military because their discount had them in the nosebleed section. That statement really rubbed me the wrong way (obviously enough to have me blogging about it).

This isn't the first time a family member of the military has made a comment like that. And it bothers me, this warped sense of entitlement.

A few months ago on the Fort Hood MWR fan page (MWR = Morale, Welfare, & Recreation) they had posted about dance classes and then listed the cost. Immediately there were responses about what a rip off and how they didn't care about military families and didn't you know we didn't make that much money and what happened to taking care of us...oh it made me sick to read these comments. I have heard similar comments at different stores, on different forums, in different settings. "Don't they know know what my husband is doing for their freedom, the least they could do is give me a discount."

Nowhere in any enlistment contract does it state that a military ID card entitles you to free stuff or discounts on everything or anything for that matter. The many awesome organizations and companies that do offer a discount or free items do so out of the kindness of their hearts, with true desire to show appreciation. They do it because they WANT to, not because they HAVE to!

We aren't rolling in the dough, but we make do. If people would stop and think about how good we really have it, they might stop complaining and playing the "woe is me" card. We don't pay for our medical, we get provided housing in one way or another (either actual money or a house to live in). Plus our Soldiers get an additional allowance for food that they never use, I mean let's be honest, the family spends it. Throw in a raise every year, over 3% for the past few years. Throw in another raise every two years based on your time in service. Oh yeah and for the enlisted side of the house, a pretty nice clothing allowance annually that again..Soldiers rarely use on themselves. And yes, it sucks when our troops deploy but additional pay comes in and oh yeah it's all tax-free while deployed. So financially, if you're smart about it, you'll do okay. Oh and if you need help with your budget, the Army can help you with that too by offering free classes for the Soldier and their family.

As you can see, it really bothers me. Now, let me say that yes, I have taken advantage of military discounts such as our Sea World trips, a discount on our hotel room and certainly think it's nice when an organization/company offers a 10% or 20% discount for military but I don't EXPECT it and I don't get upset if they don't offer one. We were blessed that so many wonderful organizations out there do support our troops. Kevin had many who adopted him and sent him lots of great goodies, he was always surprised when people sent him stuff. I was even more surprised when they would include the rest of the family. I can't even express my gratitude. We were surprised because we never expected it.

I'm fully aware of the sacrifices that my husband has made for his country and the citizens who reside here in America. I just don't feel a sense of entitlement to cash in on it.

Let me end on this note...this is in reference to military discounts, not our Veterans Benefits...THAT would be an entirely different perspective, one I'm way more passionate about and that sense of entitlement IS justified!