Summertime brings sun, fun, and outdoor music.  At least it does in my world!  My family and I recently attended RompFest for the first time ever this summer and man, was it rad.  I made the conscious decision to bring my 5 and 2-year-olds with me as I figured it would be an enlightening cultural experience for them to have.  Ultimately, we all had a blast and the festival couldn't have been better.

Due to my kids' warm reception to live music I'm now debating on bringing my children to their first concert in the fall. Before I go too much further and people freak out, here's some backstory as to why I'd like to give my children this experience.

I'm a huge Sammy Hagar fan (as in one of my children is named 'Sammy' and I've met Hagar) and there are a few shows coming up that I'd like to take my children too, and his show is one of them.  I know that a lot of parents and moms especially become uneasy at the idea of their small children attending a real live concert for a variety of reasons, especially *gasp* a Rock and Roll concert.  When I was growing up music was an integral part of my upbringing, especially classic rock music.  At age four I performed "Hakuna Matata" live for my family perched upon our brick hearth and right then and there I decided I was going to be a rock star.  Unfortunately, that hasn't happened thus far but I do have hope that my dream of becoming a Rock N Roll legend may transpire. Anyway, I can't imagine what my life would have become without my unwavering passion for music.  If that passion hadn't been cultivated within me at such a young age I may not have had such a love and passion for music today.  Ultimately this lead me to do a little sleuthing to see if it's safe to take small children to a concert.

Indeed it is safe for children to attend concerts!  Overall, suggestions range to keeping your children away from the front of the stage and speakers to keeping them toward the back of the venue to buying them noise canceling ear wear or earplugs to protect their hearing.  Aside from protecting their hearing, it's recommended to keep children close and get physical seats for them to sit in or stay at the very back of the lawn section to keep smaller children from being bumped into, stepped on, or accidentally trampled over during or after shows.  While this sounds scary, as long as a parent is diligent and follows strict safety protocols with children they should be able to enjoy concerts at any age that their parent feels is appropriate.

Will I take my children to their first concert this fall?  Maybe. I'm going to research the venue, talk to the experts, and contact their pediatrician for any additional advice.  Most likely, I probably will abide by the strict safety constraints above and take my kids to their first big concert.  Regardless of if I do or don't, suffice it to say, it's no longer regular protocol to just bar children from live shows until they're teens.  This means that if you want to take your kids to a live show, it may not be as dangerous as commonly accepted!  By following the safety protocols and double checking with their pediatricians you're making an informed, healthy parenting decision which parents do each and every day!

Here's a throwback to when we all went to RompFest 2017!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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