So What Happened Next? What Happened Next?

My dad has been asking for the last two weeks if he could take Mister Man to go see Horton Hears a Who. I hadn’t been able to give him an answer definitively one way or the other. Yes, Mister Man is just about 4 ½, but he’s never been to the movie theater. In fact, he’s only seen a few movies (thanks to my parents, a few more than I would have shown him, but still…). I’m one of the rare parents that really doesn’t let my kids watch tv or movies or anything. I wanted to wait to see what the parental review websites had to say specifically about the movies since I know from personal experience that “G” doesn’t always mean G.

The reviews were finally up at the end of this week, and they actually came back ok. No sex or profanity (ok, other than some words like “moron” and “idiot” and “boob” that I could have done without), and the violence was “mostly cartoon-like” including a character getting stapled in the head and the speck being held over a vat of boiling water. Again, I suppose I could deal with that. So when my dad called yesterday to ask if we could go to the movies, I said no. But only because Mister Man really needed a nap (and took one). Today was the big day.

By the time I got to my parents’ house, Mister Man was bouncing off the walls he was so excited. My dad asked if he was excited to go to the theater for the first time. He corrected my dad, saying that he’d been twice before. I had to stop and think about that one. When my dad was confused (because I wouldn’t put it past him to take Mister Man to a movie without telling me), I realized he was referring when I took him to the Hemmens Cultural Center last fall twice to see plays (Max and Ruby and Winnie the Pooh). The boy has a mind like a steel trap!

When we got to the theater, I let him know that it would be dark and loud. My dad had to get popcorn, of course. Mister Man told my dad that he wasn’t hungry and so didn’t want any. Gotta love a kid who knows not to eat when he’s hungry.

I was interested to see whether or not he liked it better than my popcorn though. If he takes a good nap on a weekend day, we’ll do “Movie Night with Mommy” where I’ll make real popcorn on the stove. I asked him to try it, but he repeated that he wasn’t hungry and didn’t want any. I asked if he’d just try one piece to let me know if he liked it better than mine or not. He picked up a piece, realized it was two, and put the second piece back. He tried it and decided that he doesn’t like movie theater popcorn. I’ve just saved an absolute fortune over the next 14 year. Whoo hoo!

When we arrived at the theater, we were the first ones to sit down. My dad was worried that the theater would be sold out since it is still spring break, so we got there a little early. Mister Man wanted to know why the movie wasn’t starting yet. I checked my handy dandy cell phone, and we figured out that we had twenty-one minutes to wait patiently for the previews to start. Oops.

As the previews finally started, Mister Man told me that it was really loud. Smart me, I had brought along ear plugs. Ok, they were really for me. I’m a wimp about sound, too, so I have a pair of ear plugs in my purse at all times for the rare occasion when I see a movie (No Reservations was my last movie). Needless to say, I shared with him. Very cute.

Fortunately, he loved the movie, although he didn’t like it when the bad guys were on the screen. Me? I liked it, too. And yes, I cried, but I cry in almost every movie. As soon as the movie was over, Mister Man started his request to have the movie retold to him. And heaven forbid we forget a part! After having it retold two kazillion times in the last two hours (although granted, he’s been asleep since 6:11), he’s pretty much got it down cold.

His next comment? Mommy, watching this movie weared me out. That was so cute and sweet that the people in front of us even did an “awwwww.” Any guesses why he went to bed so early?

As we started to leave the theater, he asked if he could come again. And mentioned that he was hungry. Mommy, I’m ready to eat now. Can we get dinner at this restaurant? Fortunately, I was able to convince him that this was not actually a restaurant and that maybe Little Miss might want to eat dinner with us, too, where he could gasp tell her about the movie! Playing to the pride… it almost always works (on the hubby, too!).

The good news summary:
Mister Man can sit still and quiet long enough to watch a movie in a theater
He won’t ever bug me to buy movie theater popcorn
He really enjoyed the movie
In his opinion, Little Miss has to wait until she’s four to watch a movie – and she usually is amenable to his theories