Regular readers of this blog will know that my kids don’t watch regular tv programming.

So whenever we’re invited to Meet and Greet sessions and live shows at malls, my kids usually go, “Huh? Who?” We usually still accept the invites because we love the electrifying atmosphere at live shows, and it always turns out to be a fun day out for all of us. But we usually don’t go as fans.

There was once we were at T3 and it happened that the Strawberry Shortcake folks were staging their live show. Ben and Becks saw the performers on stage and went, “Who are these girls with funny hats?” I think those children around stared at them for the longest time with utter disbelief.

So when I received an invitation by City Square Mall to catch Barney and his friends live, and to do a Meet and Greet after the show, I asked the kids, “Hey, wanna go meet Barney?”, and they were all “Yay, yay, yes! Meet Barney!”

You see, everybody knows the purple dinosaur. Even these kids who’s not watched a single episode of Barney at home. He’s everywhere. On their friends’ shoes, bags, water bottles, stationery, and clothes. Sometimes, the teachers in kindy play them Barney videos (and other programmes like Mother Goose, Veggie Tales and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) at the assembly room while waiting for all the other children to arrive before starting praise and worship, and daily prayers. So thanks to their friends who are fans and their teachers, my children who don’t watch kids’ channels at home now know who Barney is and actually can’t wait to meet him.

Last Friday, we were at City Square Mall to catch the Barney Live Show. When we arrived at 3.45pm for the 4pm show, this was what we saw:

I didn’t know the SOP for catching live shows was to queue up 1 to 2 hours before the starting time so you can chope a seat in the front. We were thankful we were specially ushered to a cordoned off corner where we needn’t jostle with every crazy Barney fan present, and were told we would be the very first family to go give Barney and his friends hi-fives. Which explains why most of my shots were taken from this angle.

When the purple and green tyrannosaurus (yes, he is a T-Rex! A friendly, monotoothed one!) appeared, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The cheers and squeals were similar to those fan girls screaming at a K-pop concert. The little Barney fans were ecstatic! They sang with Barney, Baby Bop and BJ, belting out familiar tunes together with Barney as he sang and danced his crowd favourites.

And what were my kids doing? Watching the live show, of course. They were stunned, in fact! Some girls a few feet away were singing at the top of their voices, the kids in front were jiving and grooving, and everyone around seemed to know every single Barney song and dance. Ben and Becks didn’t, but it didn’t matter. They were soaking up the atmosphere, nonetheless.

Occasionally, they would turn around to ask me if there was a person hiding inside those costumes. These are my kids for you – they were more concerned if the Barney they would stand next to later was a real dinosaur or a fake one.

Despite knowing full well that there were people inside those costumes, they were still kinda freaked out when we had a photo taken with Barney, Baby Bop and BJ. Which explains the looks on their faces.

When we walked around the mall later that evening after the show, Ben and Becks asked if they could watch the live show a second time, when they saw people starting to fill out the space at the atrium for the 7pm show. That to me was a clear sign that they enjoyed the show, and wanted to experience it again.

I told them I had a better idea.

We headed home and I got their father to download Barney vids to the computer which was then synced to the tv. The kids finally watched Barney & Friends on tv at home, learned those familiar tunes (If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops is my personal favourite now, hurhurhur) and are now officially fans!

How do I know? Becks is loving the Barney water bottle from her goodie bag from City Square Mall, and taking more water than she’s ever done after Barney came along, and Ben’s asking for more Barney on tv now!

Thank you, City Square Mall, for inviting us to be part of yet another exciting live show!

More details:

• City Square Mall is Singapore’s first eco-mall, and is located at the junction of Serangoon Road and Kitchener Road. This Great Singapore Sale, redeem an exclusive pass for the Meet & Greet session with Barney & Friends with a minimum spending of $50, and sing and dance along with Barney, Baby Bop and BJ at the Level 1 Atrium at 4pm & 7pm (Tue-Fri); 1pm, 4pm & 7pm (Sat & Sun) from 7 to 16 June.

Disclosure: The Kao kids and I were given media passes to the Meet and Greet session with Barney & Friends. All opinions here are Motherkao’s own.