Wiggle me this

So Jamie and I win the "Parents of the Year" award. Well, we win it along with the other 10,000 families who attended The Wiggles concert in Houston a few weeks ago. They were only here for one day and did two shows. Sold out both, in the Toyota Center. You know, where that NBA team called the Rockets plays their games. Crazy. When they go to Madison Square Garden they outsell Bruce Springsteen (12 sold-out Wiggles shows vs. 10 for The Boss).

If you don't know who The Wiggles are, then you're not the parent of a toddler. They are an Australian musical group who write and perform children's songs. Kinda like the Beatles for kids. They're extremely popular because their music is fun for the kids while still being catchy enough to be palatable for the parents. It's a delicate balance, but they manage to pull it off.

What I admire about the Wiggles is that even though their success has brought in millions of dollars from DVD sales, they still perform more than 200 tour dates every year, and many of those performances are in small venues. They seem to genuinely enjoy singing and dancing to make children happy.

One sad thing was that Greg (a.k.a. the Yellow Wiggle) got sick with orthostatic intolerance 9 months ago, and has been unable to perform since. He was truly the leader of the group, so it was a big blow to lose him. His understudy, Sam, has taken over the Yellow spot and did a really good job in the show. If you have a few Wiggles DVDs at home, you may know Sam as the opera singer, complete with cape. His voice is obviously excellent.

The concert was such a blast! It ranks right up there with SeaWorld as one of the family highlights of the year. There's nothing like seeing the look on your kids' faces when you explain that they're about to see The Wiggles. The real ones, not just a video. They were in total shock.

Here are some pics, and below that is a funny story:






















We got to the concert 30 minutes early, so Jamie and the kids went to the seats while I hit the concession area for popcorn and a drink. While I was there, a guy in his mid-40s came up to the counter and quickly said, "Beer, please."

The young cashier looked at him and said, "I'm sorry, sir, we're not serving alcohol today."

The man's face slowly evolved through states of confusion, desperation, anger and finally acceptance.

I could practically hear his thoughts... "Wait a minute, here. I'm already forced to sit through a freakin' Wiggles concert. Now you're saying I have to do it SOBER???!!?"