Going to the Movies
When people have children so many stop doing things and going places.. they stop eating out, reading, taking vacations.. when we had D we had decided that we were going to make a greater effort and try to not let that happen to us.. so when he was just a few weeks old we took him to his first restaurant, at six months we took him on his first vacation.. and at 20months we decided it might be time to try his first movie. There were no animated movies playing at the time so we decided to settle for a family movie instead. D was fresh after his afternoon nap, we bought him his favorite, popcorn and we settled in our seat to watch Journey to the Mysterious Island. He was too light to keep the seat down so M had to weigh it down with his knee.. D was ecstatic.. he was laughing and clapping and the movie hadn't even started yet.. long story short he sat still for about the first 20mins before he wanted to leave.. we took turns taking him out but the moment he was outside he wanted to be inside again.. it was an unsuccessful outing.
We tried again at 22months. I wanted to go watch The Hunger Games.. this time we decided to change up our strategy. We decided to wait till it was almost bedtime, this way he'd eat some popcorn and then eventually fall asleep. He is a sound sleeper so we saw no flaws in our plan. We failed yet again. He did not sleep and started to get cranky.. M took him out and drove him around till he did fall asleep and then I held him through the rest of the movie.
You can see by now that we are anything but quitters as well as the fact that we haven't opened up to the idea of a sitter yet.. Last weekend we tried yet again at 25months. We rethought our strategy. This time we were going to take him after he had already gone to sleep and take our umbrella stroller with us so that we didn't have to hold him. This plan sounded fool proof.. as fool proof as a plan involving a toddler could be. He was fed and in his pj's.. went into the car seat asleep.. i got out in front of the cinema to buy tickets and he was still asleep.. the plan was going to work! M parks the car and opens D's side of the door to find a very awake smiling toddler. We had 30mins before the movie would start so I hopped back into the car and we hoped we could drive around till he fell asleep again.. but D had started to giggle.. he was actually giggling in the back seat and saying stop and go at the changing of the signals. It was so annoyingly adorable I wanted to hug him. It was only a few minutes before the movie would start.. we didn't have a choice, we had bought the tickets already. We took him in, awake, sans popcorn and found seats that would make for an easy getaway. 20minutes in and he had drifted off into sweet slumber and we enjoyed The Dark Knight Rises.
We won't be making a habit of this.. it was too stressful. Though we may try again in a few months, when something we really want to watch is playing.
When did you first venture out with your child to the movies? How did it go? What movie did you choose?
We tried again at 22months. I wanted to go watch The Hunger Games.. this time we decided to change up our strategy. We decided to wait till it was almost bedtime, this way he'd eat some popcorn and then eventually fall asleep. He is a sound sleeper so we saw no flaws in our plan. We failed yet again. He did not sleep and started to get cranky.. M took him out and drove him around till he did fall asleep and then I held him through the rest of the movie.
You can see by now that we are anything but quitters as well as the fact that we haven't opened up to the idea of a sitter yet.. Last weekend we tried yet again at 25months. We rethought our strategy. This time we were going to take him after he had already gone to sleep and take our umbrella stroller with us so that we didn't have to hold him. This plan sounded fool proof.. as fool proof as a plan involving a toddler could be. He was fed and in his pj's.. went into the car seat asleep.. i got out in front of the cinema to buy tickets and he was still asleep.. the plan was going to work! M parks the car and opens D's side of the door to find a very awake smiling toddler. We had 30mins before the movie would start so I hopped back into the car and we hoped we could drive around till he fell asleep again.. but D had started to giggle.. he was actually giggling in the back seat and saying stop and go at the changing of the signals. It was so annoyingly adorable I wanted to hug him. It was only a few minutes before the movie would start.. we didn't have a choice, we had bought the tickets already. We took him in, awake, sans popcorn and found seats that would make for an easy getaway. 20minutes in and he had drifted off into sweet slumber and we enjoyed The Dark Knight Rises.
We won't be making a habit of this.. it was too stressful. Though we may try again in a few months, when something we really want to watch is playing.
When did you first venture out with your child to the movies? How did it go? What movie did you choose?
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that sounds perfect right now, a good movie~ it's been too long! xO!
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I admire your persistence, and I'm glad it worked out! I think it's so important to maintain your own sense of self and, at the same time, introduce your child to new things. Of course, we don't have any kids yet, but this is great advice for when we do! Thanks for sharing how it went.
ReplyDelete:( A lot of my friends with kids deal with this too. It's rough, but props for your effort to keep trying!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, it is hard when the only thing you watch are cartoons and the only place you go is the zoo or the park. Sometimes you need to do things for you.
DeleteThanks for your kind comment! Maybe you'd like to visit my blog again sometime and follow me :)
ReplyDeleteJulia
http://fightoff-yourdemons.blogspot.de
Yay for making the effort lady!
ReplyDeleteCouldn't hurt to try right?
Deletewow! you are definitely not quitters! =)
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I don't have kids but I don't think I went to the movies until I was 5. I saw ET and was excited at the end when everyone else was sad since I was scared of him. I think my sister in law goes to the animated films with my 2 year old niece.
ReplyDeleteDo you have friends with kids nearby that you can swap movie nights with?
Unfortunately we don't have friends that live nearby. Initially we only went out when parents visited which was once a year. Now we try and see how D handles it and proceed from there.
DeleteI do not miss those days of trying to have fun with a toddler at the movies
ReplyDeleteVery nice post, I love go to cinema :)
ReplyDeleteGood for you Hena for trying new things with him!
ReplyDeleteMy youngest was 25 months.. she did great, but admittedly, she was tired, so that made it easier. She sat for Madagascar 3:-)
ReplyDeleteHaha my son also fell asleep while watching a movie! Seemed like the dark environment was good enough for him to fall asleep in, despite the loud sudden noises from the movie.
ReplyDeleteI agree with u, we should still enjoying late night movies, dinner dates etc even if we have children or not :)