Yesterday Ben and I went clubbing. My cousin had sent me an email about a baby dance party called "Baby Loves Disco". Baby Loves Disco gives parents a way to go out and dance, and bring their little ones along for the experience. The parties are held at clubs that have been babyproofed, with a whole bunch of activities for little ones to keep them entertained. There's dance props, nutritious snacks, baby lounges on the side, dance contests and a real DJ.

I was debating on going, because there's a lot of stuff that I needed to do this weekend (and really, I need some rest), but I finally decided to do it on Friday to give Ben a little treat. Unfortunately, when I finally got online to buy the tickets, it was too late.

I emailed the hostess of the party, and she told me that if I got in early, I could probably get tickets at the door. So we headed out on Sunday, and at first, I was really worried about parking since the club was a block away from Wrigley and there was a game at the same time, but then Dave told me that they were playing in Pittsburgh. So we were lucky to get free parking just two blocks away.

The party was held at the Metro, a venue known more for being the launching pad of alternative and rock bands than as a babyproofed baby club. It was funny to come in and see the regular staff working the party. For some reason I had thought that BLD would have brought in their own, but it made sense that the people working the party were the ones most familiar with the venue. Throughout the day the staff just had a look of curiosity and amusement. It felt like going to a club, because as I tried to enter the club, the bouncer stopped me and said, "I'm sorry, but you'll have to park your stroller in our stroller parking."

Stroller parking ended up being the Metro store, which was also the Diaper Changing room, complete with a soft diaper changing table, free wipes and antibacterial wipes.

As I paid the entrance fee and walked in, I could hear some of the staff snickering to each other, saying, "Hey, did you hear that Frank has to work the Diaper Changing Room?" The whole day they seemed pretty entertained and a little out of sorts when they had to look down to avoid collisions with little people.

Once I got in, it looked just like any other club - lights flashing, music blaring, but with one exception - half of the people on the dancefloor were little babies. They carried around egg shaped shakers, danced around with flimsy scarves, and got their groove on. I saw my friend Chariya there with her son and her friends. They were already pretty tired from chasing around their tots. Fortunately for me, Ben's a little slow to warm-up when he gets to places so he clung to me for the first half hour. He just sat on my lap just watching all the other kids dance around.

Once he finally got used to the place, he got busy - not dancing, but climbing up and down the steps on the second floor. He worked those three steps (from the bar area to the seating area) for about half an hour, making friends with the little girl whose seat he was using as a banister. The DJ played some great tunes, like "Bust a Groove" and "Rollercoaster of Love".

We went back down to the dancefloor (after watching the dance contest from above) and Ben got his groove on. He found a bunch of stuffed animals to dance with and hand out to the little girls he met.

In the end, he had a good time and something we'll definitely do again. So if you're a mom in the Chicago area (Jen! Rachel!) the next Baby Loves Disco will be in November.

Here's pics!

The Dance Contest - you can see the kiddies in the middle

Ben gets an egg shaker as Ayden looks on

Bubbles float from the stage (I've got a slow shutter speed, so it looks like bugs)

The Tambourine Man

Ben runs around the dance floor

Ben shows off one of his dance parters

Ben rushes the stage

more here

Posted by Yano at September 10, 2007 10:20 AM

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