A Day At the Mall is No Day At the Beach

It's holiday season and the shoppers are out. And so is the balloon twister.

For the past two weekends, I've been hired by two fancy pants malls to make kids happy while their parents drag them out for some excessive December spending. I was one of several children's entertainers out at the Acorn Dip Mall last weeked--Goby the Magician, Bryan the Yo-Yo Man and Matt the Trivia Quizzer (with prizes!) and then me, the Balloon Lady. The Mall was packed and my line didn't let up at all for 4 hours. Parents continue to chuckle and ask, "don't your fingers get tired?" They think it's some kind of silly question, but I always answer, "Yes, they do." And then said parent proceeds to request balloon Elmo's for literally every child in the family.

I made some good stuff at both mall gigs: Batman, Mickey Mouse, Elmos, dinosaurs (stegasaurus AND bronotsaurus), and your usual steady supply of dogs, butterflies and lady bugs. Derek, the party entertainment agent who hired me, suggested I make things "less complicated" in order to keep the line moving. My mom suggested I have a sign with pictures of all the things I can make so that I avoid either 1) the paralyzed and dumbfounded look of amazement on kids faces when they see all the colors of balloons in my balloon belt and subsequently can't decide what they want; or 2) the disappointment of a child when they see that the balloon bicycle I have made for them is not lifesize nor is it ridable; or 3) the occasional request for the impossible; i.e., "Can you make a fireman in a firetruck going to rescue a dog from a flaming building?"

But I don't want to make "less complicated" things. Then it's boring for me. And I don't want to have a sign because then I'm stifling kids imaginations to come up with something--anything--for me to make. And I'm also losing the surprise element of what the finished product looks like. I love the look on a kids face when they see their new inflated latex toy.

Oh, and by the way, tips are awesome.

Today's mall gig was tougher and I was cranky about life and I hope it didn't come through in my balloon performance. Best part of the day though was when I was walking through the mall after the gig (still with my striped rainbow tights) and a little girl (Pink Flower) came up to me and said:

"I really like my balloon. Thank you."

Thank you.