My anxiety level always reaches new heights when we are planning on taking the kids somewhere new and different. Kade can be rather unpredictable, and he doesn’t readily accept change, so we tend to stick with what he’s comfortable with, which isn’t much. That said, we’ve wanted to check out Cleveland’s Rock-n-Tot event because it not only sounded cool, but it seemed like a perfect fit for the kids given how much they both love to dance. Our weekends tend to be filled with family functions, road trips, or races so we were lucky to be able to attend this month’s event. I just hoped that Kade would want to participate and wouldn’t decide to sulk in the corner. It took about a half hour for him to warm up, but once he did, he tore up the dance floor with his killer moves. He was even break-dancing, and knowing that the other children were watching him made him perform even more…it was quite a sight. Liv likes to rock out to the tunes in her head, so her moves didn’t necessarily match the music, but she was loving it. The flashing lights and hordes of little people just like her made her squeal with delight. Seriously, both kids had a great time and Kyle and I got to relax and just let the kids be kids, which made my stress level take a nose-dive.

I have to admit that I was a little creeped out when we entered the club, but that’s just because the last time I was there it was my sister’s bachelorette party and it was packed with sweaty, cologne-drenched, horny boys who were so drunk they were relying on the crowd to hold them up. All evidence of that debauchery was gone though, and juice boxes and requisite kid-friendly snacks were stationed along the bar that only a few hours earlier held countless shots of jager. There was a children’s book author signing books, a MaryKay consultant offering hand treatments, airbrush tattoos that Liv absolutely freaked out over (I have never seen her that upset…thank goodness I never took her to get her ears pierced), a live band, a magician, an awesome local company we had to support (I can’t wait until our shirts come in the mail), a d-jay spinning tunes, and an area full of hula hoops that I couldn’t resist playing with myself (oh yes, my hips still have it in them). There was something for everyone, and the smiles that filled the room proved it. There were door prizes (even Mrs.Unlucky herself won one), a Mother’s Day drawing, and every family left with a goodie bag…gotta love some swag.

We even got to meet the woman responsible for bringing this ingenius concept to Cleveland (thanks, Naomi). I’m a little sad (ok, a lot sad) that the event will be moving out of downtown to North Olmsted, though. One of the highlights of this concept is that it brings families downtown, and proves that you can have a great day out in Cleveland with the whole family. It kind of defeats the purpose when you hold the event in a suburb. Downtown was accessible to east-siders and west-siders alike, but the move will likely result in west-side domination. It’s definitely going to make it more difficult for my crew to attend, but we’ll try our best because the kids had a rockin time, and Mama and Daddy got to exhale…even if it was only for two hours…