First Time at the Movies

Last week I decided to give taking Emily to the movies a whirl. I did not risk a movie that I had to pay for. I do not have money to waste. The local theaters around here show free movies every Wednesday of the summer break. Some movies are fairly recent while others are too old to be considered a treat to go to. The latter was the case for us. It was the Veggie Tales: The Pirates That Don't Do Anything. But I went with my mom, sister, and a couple of my nephews. Kind of like a play date. Only her cousins (both 4) are only partially into hanging out with an almost 2 year old. Such snobs. :)Well, the first on my list of concerns was that Emily would be scared of the dark and the loudness of the movie. Didn't seem to faze her. The next was that she would be loud. Only cried out a couple of times. I mean if you hold popcorn near a girl's face you best be ready to hand it over faster than you can say "Veggie Tales is kind of boring" or a mini tantrum will ensue. Okay you need to be able hand it over much faster than that. Anyway, another concern was that she would get bored. That concern was realized pretty much from the word go. But stuff snack foods and juice in her grubby little palms and boredom is kept at bay. For a while anyway. She then played musical relatives. First she sat on grandma's lap, then mine, then aunt Jenn's. She also got to stand on one of the chairs. That is until she got carried away dancing to the Pirates That Don't Do Anything theme song. You see the chairs, well they're the folding kind. She's not heavy enough (though my husband is falsely claiming she weighs 35 lbs. Which I really don't think she does and besides 35 lbs still ain't heavy enough for this scenario) to keep that seat folded down. She was jumping and swaying to the music like a crazy person when all of a sudden there go her chubby little legs through the back of the seat (where the seat meets the back of the chair). Took some wiggling and a retrieval of her croc but she was set free. Didn't even draw a cry out of her though. Surprised me that that doesn't make her cry but if you don't give her a drink fast enough she will at times have a full blown meltdown. Anyway, she also played "be boo" (aka peek a boo) with her neighbors in front of her. They didn't even acknowledge her when she popped her head between theirs and said "be boo." Maybe they don't know how to play "be boo." While sitting with Jenn she also reached to the seat arm in front of her and nabbed some nachos (thankfully sans cheese) from a girl that wasn't aware of Emily's sticky fingers (literally and figuratively). Jenn actually put them back and said sorry. I don't think they're going to be eating the rest of those nachos. But hey maybe they will since she didn't lick them. I need to teach her the important lesson of how to lay claim on someone's food and/or candy. You got to lick it and it's yours. All in all she kept herself entertained by anything and everything besides the movie. I guess we'll be going back to the movies with her in 2011 or so. Bottom line, if you truly want to watch a movie with a 2 year old in tow, expect to have to rent the movie later to catch the 75% you missed.