A mother recounts her experience attending a nightclub with her 18-year-old son, sharing the anxieties and challenges of stepping back into that world after 25 years.
I parked out on the street at around 10.30pm, read the parking sign three times and took a photo of it, as if that made a parking ticket less likely. My 18-year-old son and I then walked towards a night out that had been ages in the planning. He was nervous and filled with anticipation. I was just worried. It’s been 25 years since I’ve been clubbing but I clearly remember the anxiety.
Would I be let in the door? Was I wearing the right clothes? Making the right moves? I loved dancing, but was always uncomfortable with the late starts, smoke (from machines and in those days cigarettes), dirty toilets with wet floors and thumping in my heart and my head.And here I was with my son, about to do it all again as a mum of two in her fifties. What was I thinking? I’d convinced myself that joining him at the Love Machine nightclub for a DJ set by online sensation Vikkstar (12.1 million combined YouTube subscribers, net worth estimated at $40 million) was the same as going to Harry Styles with his older sibling. Just two family members heading out to a concert together, ready to have fun. Except it wasn’t. All that felt the same was the anxiety from 25 years ago. My younger son has never been to a concert of any kind and certainly not a nightclub. He doesn’t enjoy loud noises, strobe lighting, lasers, crowds (particularly if they’re drinking), or late nights. He doesn’t drink alcohol and is repulsed by smoking and vaping. He likes daytime sport, gaming and the EDM (electronic dance music) that features in the games he plays. But UK gamer and now DJ Vikkstar, who my son has followed on YouTube for 10 years, was headlining tonight, so the usual rules didn’t apply. How he would actually cope was another worry for me. To me, gamers like Vikkstar and local versions LazarBeam (27.1 million combined YouTube subscribers, net worth est. $8 million) and Lachlan Power (16.8 million combined YouTube subscribers, net worth est. $10 million) are a bit like alien lifeforms. I’m happy for my kids to enjoy them, but I prefer to stick to my world of books and daytime telly. Yet, here I was, about to step into the bright lights and pulsating music of the Love Machine, all for the sake of family bonding.
Nightclub Mother-Son Gaming Anxiety Family Bonding
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