My 10-year-old daughter loves Taylor Swift. Her songs are played on repeat in our house. We are frequently bombarded with random facts about Taylor – her childhood, her albums, her partner – the works. I don’t mind the obsession though. I reckon she’s a pretty decent role model; she strikes me as intelligent and kind.

As soon as the Eras tour was announced, I signed up for a ticket code and crossed my fingers and toes that I’d be able to secure them. I was glued to the laptop, ready to snap them up as soon as they went live on Ticketmaster. Turns out I wasn’t the only hopeful parent with the same desperate plan.

Even though I joined the virtual queue the second it opened, somehow there were 36,000 people ahead of me for tickets.

Lucy was disappointed, but she understood that I had tried my best. She decided to ask Santa instead and hoped that he might deliver the goods, but unfortunately he wasn’t able to source tickets either.

In the run up to the concert, myself and my husband entered online raffles and radio competitions, desperately hoping for a last minute miracle.

I really wanted to come through for Lucy. She’s such a good girl and I muttered to myself that I’d pay any money to make it happen. And then, unexpectedly, that theory was put to the test.

I got a text from my husband. He knew someone selling tickets last minute. It wasn’t a scam. A pair of real, actual tickets. But they wanted over a thousand euros more than the face value of the tickets. Not a scam, but robbery nevertheless, if you ask me.

My husband is much more pragmatic when it comes to things like this. “If we won’t pay it, someone else will take the arm off him for those tickets. Supply and demand…”

My daughter Lucy reads this article every week and I can just imagine her now, reeling in horror at the revelation that we were close to securing tickets. Sorry Lucy!

A tough decision had to be made and that decision was no. True to form, the tickets were snapped up by someone we know who had a fabulous time at the concert with their child. And more power to them.

Before any of you go feeling too sorry for Lucy (and before she goes feeling too sorry for herself!) I brought her to London to see Harry Styles at Wembley last year. She has had her fun in the past and there will be plenty more fun for her in the future. I really hope she understands that.

I try to teach my kids (and to remind myself) that it’s nice when things go your way in life, but that won’t always be the case. It’s important to learn to suck up the disappointment too. This concert ended up being a case in point for Lucy and lots of other little fans who didn’t get to go.

It was nice to see photos and videos from friends who managed to secure tickets; dreams came true a
nd memories were made at the concert.

As for Lucy, ask yourself – Would Taylor sit there and cry about it, or would she shake it off and push each boulder up that hill? (See what I did there, being cool with my lyrical references?!)

I’ll show myself out…

Louise Flanagan is an admin of Letterkenny Babies Facebook page and the author of the children’s book series, Dragonterra and Dream Beasts. www.dragonterra.ie