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Mom Spends Summer in Sanitarium
By Beth Bradley Walter
. Now I was in my glory. The videography, lighting and pyrotechnics were fabulous and added to the whole concert experience. 
During the set-up time between concerts, there was plenty of "people watching" for entertainment. We made the usual trips to the concession stands, and then I got hit up for "the shirt." At first I said no, because they were over-priced, of course, and I had spent enough on the tickets. But then I thought about all the concerts I went to in my youth where I never got "the shirt" because I spent enough on the ticket, and I found myself caving in. I rationalized that it's our family vacation, and it wouldn't be complete without a truly awesome souvenir.
As we returned to the stands, I looked around in the area where we were seated and realized it resembled a "family section," as there were several other parents chaperoning teens a safe distance from the mosh pit.
We had fun recalling the Diet Pepsi commercial where a mud-covered woman is being bounced on a trampoline at a concert and a boy says to his friend, "Dude, it's your mom." I promised the boys I'd stay out of the mosh pit and try to behave myself.
The moment finally arrived for Metallica to take the stage. Their set was spectacular, lights changing from gold to silver and back with each beat. I noticed the lead singer looked "middle aged," and someone seated nearby said this might be their last tour. That news added to my feeling that I did the right thing in sharing my kids' first rock concert experience with them.
After the concert, the next challenge was spending the night in a hotel room with four really wound-up teenage boys, trying to get enough sleep to drive home the next day. Rock on, Mom, rock on.