I took my toddler to a classical music concert: Multitasking Moms and Dads

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A few weeks ago I took my almost 2-year-old son to a classical music concert, and I just might do it again.

It was Apollo's Fire performing Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and my son enjoyed it immensely.

I know, I know, I'm like the Dr. Evil of moms, holding my pinky finger to the edge of my mouth, cackling maniacally as I announce my plans to take my toddler to classical music performances.

The debate about the appropriateness of children at classical music concerts has created deep divides among both parents and music lovers.

Concerts have been interrupted by musicians and conductors alike, annoyed at children and babies in the audience. Violinist Kyung Wha Chung once told parents to "maybe bring her back when she's older" following a coughing fit from a child in the audience.

Of course, adults also cough during classical music concerts. They text, and sometimes their cell phones go off and occasionally they blow their noses or whisper things to their neighbors or slowly unwrap pieces of hard candy. My point is that disruptions come from people of all ages.

I get that children are less likely to understand why they can't talk or get up or fidget or have a snack. But shouldn't children also be allowed to enjoy live classical music given the right circumstances?

Children's book author Michael Morpurgo, whose "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" was set to music by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, encouraged young children to attend the piece's performance. 

"At my concerts I've had people who bring children who wriggle and scream -- it's fine, it's part of it," he said according to classicalfm.com. "There are going to be half a dozen children who are going to be bowled over by hearing an orchestra and two or three years hence they're going to pick up a violin and they're going to love it. It's life-changing."

I hope he's right, but even if my son doesn't grow up to be a professional classical musician, he can still benefit from classical music.

Classical music has several well-documented benefits for children. Although the "Mozart Effect" theory that playing classical music in utero will make children smarter has been widely debunked, several studies have found benefits to playing classical music to children. According to the BBC, playing classical music to babies "helps build neural bridges" and can create feelings of calmness, even in premature babies. And a study from the Institute of Education, University of London concluded that children's concentration and self-discipline skills can be improved via classical music.

Even if all the research is one day debunked, I enjoy classical music, and it's something I would like to share with my son.

I mentioned earlier that we have rules around what kind of concert we would take my son to.

First of all, this particular concert was outdoors, at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights. There are some seats in the front and a large grassy knoll where people sat on picnic blankets in the back. The concession stands sold beer, popcorn, and chips with nacho cheese. People were dressed in jeans and t-shirts. The atmosphere was somewhere between Severance Hall and Progressive Field. I wouldn't take an almost-2-year old to a stuffy concert hall show, but an outdoor, significantly less formal event we're game for. (Though we do look forward to checking out the Family Concerts at Severance Hall later on.)

Second, I know my son has a decent attention span, and I know he can kick it to classical music. We listen to classical music at home and in the car all the time. My son also understood very clearly that he has to be quiet during this event, and he's overall pretty chill. If my son were more of the restless type, I wouldn't have taken him. For most of the concert he sat there quietly, swinging his legs to the music, clapping excitedly when everyone else clapped.

Third, we intentionally bought seats at the very edge of the row closest to the exit. If my son became restless, we were ready to dash with minimal interruptions to the people around us. At one point my son started to fidget, so we went outside the concert venue and ran around a grassy knoll for a bit. Another time he spotted his grandma a few rows ahead of us and said "mama." We snuck out and enjoyed the final moments of the concert from outside.

For the record, everyone in attendance with us was more than generous with my son. No one so much as gave us a dirty look, an experience far more positive than others have had. 

I didn't take my son to a classical music concert to prevent anyone else from enjoying the show, I took him so that he could also enjoy the music.

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