Blog
Kick What?!
Is going to the movies something that is a lot of fun for your family, or something that turns into a big chore? For us it is getting easier as the triplets get older. The first movie we ever took Jack to was Finding Nemo, and we had a wonderful time - during the trailers. By the time the actual movie started Jack was busy scraping the black ju ju bees off the floor and we ended up leaving. Now that we have four, we have found that a mound of popcorn can keep them in their seats for a pretty long time.
Jack (our eight yr. old) really wanted to see the Wimpy Kid movie, and we have really enjoyed those books. We thought the language in that might be a bit salty for our four year-olds. It's not that we thought they would be cursing, but our kids are definitely in the mode of repeating words like "butt" and then laughing for hours. So we thought we didn't need to teach them anything new. We had heard really good things about the How To Train Your Dragon movie, so we decided that we would throw caution to the wind and split up. Colleen took the triplets and I got to go with Jack.
We set the triplets and Colleen up first. We bring in their own water bottles because it seems to be the only way we can get through a movie without them making a total mess. Then we buy one big bag of popcorn and ask for some small plastic cups and just refill for them constantly. Kids turn into goldfish when they are around popcorn, they will just keep eating until their stomach explodes.
The theatre was completely empty. I love an empty theatre. I find it relaxing. Colleen usually finds it a little creepy, but when you've just brought three four year-olds into a theatre I think it's hard not to be happy to find no one else there.
Jack and I went off to our show and everyone had a good time. Wimpy I would give three out of four stars. They didn't seem to follow any particular book in the series, though there were definitely parts from the books. Jack had a good time. Dragon, I only saw the last couple of minutes, but Colleen thought it was a bit intense for four year-olds, and there was not much comedy to lighten the movie up.
The point of telling you about this trip is what was in the lobby. We were at one of those 30 screen places that is huge, and they have a large lobby where they have lots of big cutouts to promote upcoming movies. One movie coming up apparently is called Kick-A@#. Now 10 years ago I'm sure I would have thought this was cool, but I have a third grader who reads this and it seems very acceptable. Now I'm seeing it on taxi cabs and buses as if it were no big deal. At what point do words not matter to us at all anymore and we accept throwing them at people anytime, anywhere?
Really, the Viagra and Cialis ads my kids see every time we watch a ball game are annoying enough. I guess I should be happy to know that my eight year old knows to call a doctor if he has something happen to him for longer than four hours, but I wish we could find a way to hold off on some of this stuff!
Post your comment
Comments (4)
-
Jolisa
April 26, 2010 (3 years ago)
Was at "GreenZone" a few weeks ago- not only was I at the late showing, it is rated R- and someone had two little kids with them. These kids couldn't have been older than 5 or 6; I saw them in the bathroom prior to show time. I felt sad that someone was exposing little ones to a movie about war and violence, not to mention how annoying it was to have them literally roaming the aisles during the movie. I literally had to pick up my purse and popcorn so they could squeeze past me on their quest to walk down every row of seats halfway through the movie. Of course the person who brought them did nothing!
-
TR.
April 21, 2010 (3 years ago)
I frequently take my niece and nephew to the movies (ages 9 and 11)- usually once a month. While they are definitely old enough to sit still during the length of a movie now, this has been an activity we've enjoyed together since they were probably 2 or 3 years old; I found a huge bucket of popcorn and a blue slushie to do just the trick. I love the idea of individual water bottles- wish I would have heard that one sooner b/c with these prices, who can afford getting a drink for each one… and we definitely don’t want to risk the chance of cooties!
It's nice to read the language comment above. With little ones around, I am always tuned into the language people use or the things they see on TV. Last night, I found myself stuttering as my niece asked me what a condom was. Awkward! She was reading a trivia game (not specified for adults) on my phone. As if that wasn’t awkward enough, I then had to explain to my brother what happened b/c the last thing I wanted her to do was tell him that "Auntie was talking about condoms..." Last week it was questions about tampons, this week condoms…. What's going to happen when she actually learns about the birds and the bees?!
p.s. I found "The Cheese" in my fridge yesterday.
-
D
April 21, 2010 (3 years ago)
It does make it hard to keep the kids innocent when they are bombarded with advertising and television shows that flood their heads with things we, as parents, probably would not be talking to them about or saying in front of them until we were comfortable about it ourselves. My 7 year old asked me out of the blue the other day why they search people in jail for weapons. I couldn't get where he got that one from. Turns out he was watching a show at his mom's house that was showing that they do this. We can't hide them from everything but we can do all we can to be equipped to handle the questions we will get whether we're ready to receive them or not. As for going to the movies...I just resign myself to the fact that there will be 100 or more bathroom trips and an argument about playing video games in the arcade at the theater for about 10 minutes after the movie as I watch another teenager walk up the stairs to the arcade with his pants around his ankles and his boxers prominently displayed!
-
Abe
April 21, 2010 (3 years ago)
Going to the movies can be relaxing; however, it is difficult with very small children (around 2 yrs old). I recommend testing out at home whether or not your son or daughter can sit through an entire show. If the child makes it, then give it a try at the movies.