I’m not sure how long I would have waited, if I hadn’t been forced into it. Possibly forever.
I really had no desire to go back to a movie theater. It wasn’t something I was missing, and since the pandemic, it really wasn’t something I felt like I needed to rush back to. Plus the thought of taking the kids somewhere they needed to be quiet for an extended period of time? Nope!
But then we realized that E has a field trip to the movies coming up, and I changed my mind. We could have kept him home, but it would mean a harder day for us, and him missing out on some fun with his friends. So even though it feels weird to let your kid go off somewhere without you or anyone you know (the theater is not close to home), we decided to let him go - with a bit of prep.
I also didn’t want to miss out on his first theater experience. There are a lot of hard parts that come with being parents, but there are some really cool fun ones too. And I like to soak those up as much as possible. So we decided we’d go to the movies on a day that E had off work, and we’d pull G out of daycare so that he could come too. It would be a fun treat for the older kids.
And then the day came, and we got a call from daycare. They were sending F home because they thought she had strep throat. She didn’t, but daycare sometimes seems to look for reasons to send kids home. I was worried our plans were ruined, but figured one of us could go to the movies and the other would stay home with F.
Except she was feeling and acting fine. And when I looked up movie tickets online, there was one open seat in the theater - right next to the 4 we’d already bought. It seemed like a sign, so I bought the ticket. We still drove to the theater in 2 cars, just in case one of us had to leave early. Although F loves watching movies at home, we usually watch 20-30 minutes at a time and she can run around the house if she’s bored. This would involve sitting still and being quiet.
It was also a Mario movie, which I knew nothing about, and neither did the kids. They didn’t know the characters or story line, so who knew if they’d like it. I had brought candy for the older two, and chips for Tom and I (since my office gives out snacks for free and I’d been in person that day). F ended up loving the experience, and stole all the chips too. She stretched out in her big chair, ate snacks, and giggled. Eventually she sat on Tom’s lap or cuddled up with me, but she stayed quiet the whole time. Of course I was anxious and expecting the worst for the whole movie, but they all did great.
E was quiet and concentrated on the movie the entire time, and G was probably our most restless, but still did great. He ended up watching most of the movie from the floor, but it wasn’t bothering anyone so we didn’t mind.
It went so well, in fact, we did it again a few weeks later. There was a rainy weekend where Tom and I were both exhausted and looked at each other - “Would it be crazy if we went again?” It seems like we have a new family activity!
