At-Home Hannah Montana Concert

"Mommy, can we puhleeese go to Hannah Montana's concert?" Julia asked last fall. I'm personally a big Hannah Montana fan and would've loved to see the show -- but I also knew we didn't stand a chance of getting seats at this highly-anticipated event.

"How about if we throw our own concert?" I suggested. Julia gave me her "oh-silly-silly-Mommy" look at the idea of a homegrown concert, but her slight smile encouraged me to sell the idea more. "You can invite five friends and you can all put on a show. Daddy, Henry, Miles, Grandma Mary and I will all be your audience."

There's something about promising a real live audience (even if one of them is a baby too young to sit still) that almost always seals the deal with Julia. Sold on the idea, Julia began working on the invitations -- handmade "concert tickets" cut from medium-weight card stock reading, "You and your rock star alter ego are invited to play, sing, and dance at a concert at Julia's house. Please bring your costume with you."

On the day of the big concert, the girls arrived promptly, and we handed them VIP backstage concert badges. (Julia and I had created these by making a color copy of each friend's school photo and inserting it into a plastic business-card holder on a nylon necklace from an office supply store.) Then the girls were ushered into their backstage lounge that was full of all the necessary "rock star" garb -- including hair pieces, glittery sunglasses, costume jewelry, bandanas, and anything else flashy and fun we could lay our hands on.

Another mom had volunteered to help out with up-do's, lip gloss, and sparkly cheek powder. After the girls were dressed in their concert costumes, they posed for a photo shoot and then began practicing their show. Together they choreographed routines to four of their favorite Hannah Montana songs. When they were ready to perform, the audience assembled to watch. We were dazzled by their singing, dancing, and most of all, their laughter.

Afterwards the girls munched on corndogs, popcorn, apple wedges with caramel sauce for dipping, and plenty of pink lemonade as they watched the video we had recorded of their performance. As much as I like Hannah Montana, I think our own show was even more spectacular and fun -- and Julia did, too.