Today was the arrival of Santa at the mall I work at, so of course, they made a day of it. There were mascots, make up booths, a crafts table, etc. There was also a little clown act that was set to perform, and unbeknownst to me, my son ( four and a half ) is a huge fan of them.A little backstory;We don't have cable TV at home, so for him it's what's available on Netflix only. Also, we are a French Canadian household, but for me it's original version or nothing. I cannot stand watching something that's been translated from English to French ( which was a big factor when we decided to cut off cable TV ). I tolerate cartoons because it is way less obvious, but even then. So he watches some cartoons in French, other in English, but movies and shows with "real people" are always in English. Like, he watches Paw Patrol in French, but the Muppets are in English.The chances of him meeting a character from a TV show or a movie he likes are pretty slim since our entertainment is mostly American, and he is not a fool. He met an "Elsa" once when he was 2 or 3, but when she opened her mouth he said "Mama, that's not Elsa, she doesn't speak English!". He also hates mascots ( which I found out today when he hid from Catboy and Marshall at the mall ), and is now old enough to know they are people in suits, because cartoons aren't real.So, earlier this week, we were discussing the upcoming event with my MIL when she said "Oooh Kiddo! Those clowns that you love will be there!". I had no idea what she was talking about so she explained that there's this show on TV, a French Canadian show, with these two silly clowns and he just loooves them. Everytime he's at his grandma's he watches it. I thought that was great, we could go see the show and that'd make him happy!I underestimated how important that moment was going to be for him. When he saw them, he could barely contain himself. I have rarely seen him this happy and excited. In that moment, he realized that the people he was watching on TV were real. THEY EXIST! And they're standing a few feet away from him!He laughed so, so hard, and so much. I even filmed him laughing for a few minutes to show people because, he is a happy kid, but laughing for a whole hour straight ? He is four and a half, he'll laugh for a few minutes and find something else to amuse himself. But not today. After the show, they offered to take pictures with the kids. My son, who's used to have backstage access because of his father's line of work, RUNS to the side of the stage to go meet them for a picture ( my son who also is very much not the type to run off or talk to strangers ). I tried to catch him and tell him that he couldn't do that when daddy's not there but it was too late already. I hear "Who's kid is this ?", I look at the stage, my son is talking with one of the clowns while the other one is looking for the parent. I raised my hand, kind of embarrassed. They smiled and kneeled next to my son, put a silly hat on his head and waited for me to take a picture. They said a warm thank you and goodbye to my son, just being genuinely nice, as you'd expect from people who's livelihood is entertaining children.My son was shaking with joy, his heart filled with happiness, it was so beautiful to see. On our way out he tells everyone he knows ( which is quite a few since Mama works there ) that he met Clopin and Nono and he has a picture with them!Feel free to tell the first time your child has met an idol, I'd love to read it! via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2Ab9cdd
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