$5 snow cones - Shiner's Circus 2013

That snow cone cost $5. More on that in a bit.

Last Sunday I finally got to take one of my children to the circus. I haven't been since I took my farm kids eons ago. I have been really harsh on myself of late about my perceived horrible parenting. This simple act though helped restore some reality to that.

I am not a bad parent. I maybe an overwhelmed exhausted parent, but I am not a bad one. The circus we saw was the Shiners traveling circus that is one of their fund raisers every March. It was fantastic!

This was our ring master. Circus have gotten really sexy since I last went. The little girl with sawdust in her shoes approves and wanted to run away and join this one. They had done away with the traditional circus music and set it to ROCKnROLL. The perfect blend of sparkles and teeth/claws and music. A lot of incredible talent entertained us for 2+ hours.

This is me. No matter how fat and arthritic I get, that is what lives inside me. That sort of magic. So you see why I have issues with the blobby aging body. My spirit is an agile twirling beautiful sexy beast.

It was a lot of fun to introduce Hansolo to the magic. My sister joined us and  while I saved our seats and sat  absorbing the sights/sounds/smells, she took her down to the floor and played circus.

Now she can list, "rode ponies in the circus" on her resume. They both rode the elephant too. While I sat and watched them. (slightly jealous that the arthritis has robbed me of the ability to ride jungle animals.) Made me realize, though I can no longer do some of the physical things with my kids I can recruit others to be my stand in.

My son had no interest in coming with us. and that is ok. After listening to his sister go on and on about the circus for two days afterwards, I head him say under his breath, "I think I will come with you next year."

Now about the $5 snow cones.

I heard a few gripes and grumbles about the prices. Parents squawking about the $4 boxes of popcorn.

Let me tell you all something you may not realize. Most people brush off the Shiners and how/why they are attached to this circus.

Its a fund raiser.

Instead of mailing you out a form asking for money they invite you to come and make memories with your children and be entertained and put some magic into your heart. Fair trade, you get magic and they get money to fund their mission.

Its more then a fair trade, damn it. THANK HEAVEN you do not understand it like I and thousands of other parents do. Shiners hospitals offer world class orthopedic and burn care for children FREE of charge.

Free.

From the time she was 3 till she turned 18 my farm daughter KSS's medical care for her cerebral palsy was free. That was multiple doctors, AFOs, years of physical therapy, surgery, etc for fifteen years .... and all of it, at no cost to us. Without this blessing KSS would not be where she is today. We couldn't have afforded that treatment.

I am just one parent of one Shriner's kid. There are many more out there right now getting treatment and many more who have yet to be welcomed to the shiners family. This little humble mission of theirs is massive.

Darling, that is a hell of a lot of $5 snow cones.

So this is how you do the Shiners Circus. you get a wad of cash and you go enjoy the show. You ride the elephant, you laugh at the clowns and dream of being up there on the high wire. When you are buying your daughter a snow cone you glance around you and see if any of the kids/parents near you want one too and you pay for them too.

Your not paying just for a snow cone, your paying for much more than I can explain here, and that is a damn good deal for $5.