Vietnamese Water Puppet Torture

So, we had the brilliant idea to wait until we got the baby to go see the water puppet show. Many adoptive families report taking their babies to this cultural must-see and say the babies love it.

So, we "splurged" and spent $3/ticket for the primo seats. That meant second row. The rows were quite narrow and we were toward the middle. Before the show, Zeke is doing great. We go to a nearby shop to pick up his custom Vietnamese teddy bear. (It has Zeke embroidered on its foot and I picked out the teddy bear's outfit.)


We walk around. We wait in the hot lobby of the theatre. He's doing fine. We feed him rice cereal and give him a bottle right before the show starts. We think that if his belly is sluggish with formula and cereal, he'll be a sweet, docile baby and will enjoy the show or else will quickly nod off.

Au contraire.

The first thing is a musical interlude. No puppet action. So, he starts squirming and "singing" loudly along with the music and it's clearly not an opportune time for a baby to be making noise. It's hard trying to get him to quiet down and by the time the puppets start, he has no interest in sitting and watching anything.

I begin bouncing him in rhythm to the music and let him play with the paper program. This is a hit and he quiets down. But after a bit, he's back to making noise and being restless. So, I wait until an applause line and then make a run for it. There are empty seats down below us on the front row. I crawl past the very nice, patient people beside us and swoop into a front row seat. There, Zeke has more room to engage in his machinations. It's enough to allow him to wiggle, then settle down and fall asleep.




My adrenaline is so high at this point and my arms are locked in position holding him that I can't fully enjoy the show. Meanwhile, Brad is videotaping (smirk and all) the whole thing (the show itself, not the Zeke sideshow). By the end of the hour-long show, I am sick to my stomach...not from food icky-ness but from frayed nerves. You see, as childless people, we obliviously used to wonder, "Why would you bring a baby to a show where the baby will make loud noises?" So, I just felt like there was a theatre full of those people staring at me because I was now one of THOSE people and here I am, doing all I can to quiet the baby.

Darn it, we had the best of intentions and thought for sure the baby would enjoy the beauty and theatrics of the puppets. They were very animated and colorful. Ugg. I felt badly that Zeke was suffering through this. I came back to the hotel, curled up on the bed and cried (Brad carried the baby home and put him right to bed).

Brad's mom visited us in Springfield right before we left for Vietnam. She told me that even though I love the baby with all my heart and have wanted the baby for YEARS, I would have days where I would just cry from the stress of it all and that would be OK.

So, today was the first of those days. I share this experience because I know there are others who read this blog who are waiting to adopt. After you get your baby, it IS ok to cry. This initial time with your baby is wonderful, beautiful, amazing, more incredible than you could even imagine...but it's also stressful and exhausting.

Not only are you adjusting to having less sleep and the demands of a little one, you're also dealing with the stress of finishing up all the "official" adoption stuff and wondering if you'll get out on time. Throw in some upset stomachs and well, you can see why a good cry would be in order.

Thus concludes the tale of the Vietnamese Water Puppet Torture. But wait!...Our story has a happy ending. After my cry, I looked at the baby in his crib and felt nothing but love and joy at having this little guy in my life. We are SO BLESSED!