1 Mother 2 Another

During spring break I wanted to take the
girls to see a movie – the only other time they’ve been
to a movie theatre was over Christmas break, and it’s now
considered the highest form of luxury and indulgence in our house
– but I had a hard time finding one that would work for the
girls. I thought about Gnomeo and Juliet, but after a
pre-screening determined that Tybalt’s death-by-smashing
would worry them for the rest of the movie, not to mention the
deep-seated fear I could see arising over that monster lawnmower in
the final battle of the movie. At that point I panicked a little;
I’d promised a movie in the theatre for the girls, and
wasn’t sure where to turn.


Then I looked at the dollar theatre.

Fortune was smiling upon me, because
Tangled was there. I pre-screened it the night before,
decided it was no worse than The Little Mermaid, and broke
the good news to the girls the next morning.


“No WAY! Are you SERIOUS?” Maddie shrieked. Clearly
this was a good idea.


We spent the whole morning primping; I’d picked a noon
viewing so I could give the girls a heavy snack mid-morning,
affording them some rooms in their tummies for popcorn but not so
much they’d gorge themselves. We selected our fancy outfits
– plus purses – and drove to the movie theatre.


I forgot to factor in two important things: #1, it was spring
break. #2, It was Seventy-Five Cent Tuesday.


We arrived twenty-five minutes before the movie, and it was sold
out. The girls were bewildered by the mob scene, clinging fearfully
to my pants as packs of kids bounced off of them. Freaking out but
frantically re-calculating our day, I bought tickets for the next
movie, two and a half hours later, and loaded the girls back into
the car.


“But Mommy – “ Cora started worrying, “Why
are we LEAVING? We need to STAY, or they will start WITHOUT
US!” “You said we’d see the movie NOW!”
Maddie chimed in.


I patiently and calmly explained the situation. Then I grabbed
Maddie’s digital princess watch, which she’d thankfully
decided to use as an accessory that day. “Do you see
Maddie’s watch? The first number is on the twelve right now.
The movie won’t start until after that number turns to
three!” Both girls peered concernedly at the watch, but
seemed to accept something they could monitor. Fixed that, I
thought in satisfaction.


“But I’m HUNGRY!” Cora wailed.


We went out to lunch.


A lazy hour at our favorite soup-and-sandwich place later, the
girls were still checking the watch every five minutes but not so
anxious about missing the movie. We stopped at home for a potty
break, then arrived back at the theatre forty-five minutes before
the movie started.


We were thirty-ninth in line.


The girls were patient and well-behaved, and never begged for a
piece of popcorn while we waited in line. The theatre finally
opened and we scrambled for seats, almost getting lost in a
forty-plus numbered group of daycare kids out on a field trip. I
found booster seats for the girls and we settled in for the movie.


One of our rules of moviegoing is no drinks but water. With a
somewhat-new-to-the-potty child, this is important. I’d
bought a large water and asked for four free water cups, for which
I was now grateful. The girls each got a cupful of water, and while
I held the one bag of popcorn, I filled their second water cups
with popcorn upon request.


Let me tell you, those girls were so cute with their little cups of
popcorn clutched chest high, eyes fixed intently on the movie.
Their gaze never wavered – they’d simply hand me the
cup without looking and say, “More, please!”


The movie was a big hit, and I have to say it’s one of my
favorite Disney movies. At least the villain in this movie is a
person, not a witch, and the girls can see that some people are
simply mean but can’t control you by magic powers. I
don’t know; for some reason it feels less demeaning than many
of the other princesses in the Disney stable.


So we’ve ordered our own copy, and the girls sing along with
it on my iPod every day. Could be worse, I’m sure.


Now – what will we be seeing this summer?