I had the privilege of taking my 12 year old granddaughter and her friend to a One Direction concert last week. Now for those of you who are unfamiliar with One Direction – where have you been?!!!!

Knowing that we’d be dealing with LA traffic, and because I’m an indulgent nana, I picked Mad (Madison) up from school at noon on concert day. Our plan was to leave at 2:00 for a 7:00 concert (yes, I’m completely serious). We were close! We hit the road at 2:15 and headed off to the Rose Bowl Stadium. This was going to be fun. I had tickets in hand and I had even sprung for premium parking. I really got a kick out of listening to their conversation on the back seat. They talked about school, boys, One Direction and 5SOSand how amazingly hot they are! For those of you who do not know who 5OS is, it’s 5 Seconds of Summer – otherwise known as the next big thing in boy bands. Their talk immediately took me back to myself as 12 year old, when there was no one dreamier than Donny Osmond! I was obsessed, I spent countless hours practicing my signature. Mrs. Osmond. Mrs.  Donny Osmond. Mrs. Donald Osmond. I now what you’re thinking, but hey – I was 12! At any rate, we got there in record time – where was all the traffic? Where was everyone? Oh. Still at work and still in school!

We wandered around for a bit, checked out the booths, and listened to some music, and visited the all important One Direction Merchandise booth. I tried to hang back a bit to give them some breathing room because really, who wants to be at a concert with their grandma hanging around! Oh, one very important detail. I failed to mention that Southern California was (and still is) in the middle of a heat wave which made it as hot as – well as hot as One Direction! In addition to that, I really had not anticipated such high temps and therefore had not packed accordingly [insert grimace here]. So after a while, we decided to go find some shade for a bit. We ended up within sight of the entry where people were already starting to line up to get in. “Can we go get in line? People are already waiting and the line is getting longer and longer.” Ugh. We were in the shade and we have tickets so it really didn’t matter if we got in line (in the sun). How do you rationalize with a 12 year old that cant believe she’s going to be breathing the same air as her heartthrob? So, off we go to get in line. In the sun. After they realize how blazing hot it truly is, they decide they are going to go look for something cold to drink.  “What? Of course you can. You go get something cold to drink, and I’ll stand here in the hot sun and save your places. And while your at it, pick me up one of those $40 t-shirts because the one I’m wearing is completely drenched in sweat! ” I didn’t really mind, my goal was for them to have a good time and there was probably very  little I wouldn’t have done to ensure that they had fun.

Finally, the line starts moving and wouldn’t you know, the girls are not back yet. They appear just as I’m digging the tickets out of my purse and they are carrying $24 dollars worth of cold drinks which consisted of two soft drinks and a bottle of water. Absurd! But okay – part of the price for them to have a good time. Well, wouldn’t you know, we get to the entrance only to be told we cant bring drinks in. You have got to be kidding me. Drink up girls.

We make our way to our seats and we are facing the sun. By my estimation, we’ve got at least a half hour before the sun goes behind the other side of the stadium and I find myself holding my ticket up as a sun visor. Oh my gosh. when I did become an old lady? Does that mean Donny Osmond is now an old man? Hallelujah! The sun has gone down!

I don’t have any idea who orchestrated this whole event, but they did an outstanding job. I have absolutely zero patience when it comes to inefficiencies, and I can tell you that this whole event couldn’t have run any smoother. No detail was overlooked. From the parents tent, to the parents drop off and pick up, the parking – so smooth. I would do it again in a heartbeat (that is, if my granddaughter will have me!).