"Knowing" With Baby in Tow

Last night Ryan really wanted to see a movie, and as much as I wanted to stay home I gave in and decided to go with him. This of course meant that Samantha would have to come with us. We fed her, wore her out in the jumperoo (or so we thought) and were on our way.

We decided to see a movie that had been out for awhile because it isn't as packed which makes it easier for us having Sam. We chose "Knowing" with Nicholas Cage, even though I was hesitant about how it would effect a 6m old. We live in a small town with a six screen theater, rooms that only seat maybe 75, and extremely uncomfortable seats that are probably from 1940, so our choices are very limited. Seeing as how she loves to watch "NCIS" and "House", I guess I wasn't too worried. Samantha loves the TV. If it is on, she won't listen to or look at you. She hates the annoying preschool shows like "Backyardigans" and "Dora" which makes me happy. How do I know she doesn't like them? Because she gets mad and looks at me as if to say, "Mother! I do not want to watch this crap!". She loves the Disney Channel shows such as "Hannah Montana", "Suite Life" and "Wizards of Waverly Place". She also LOVES Spongebob and will talk to him all day long. Well, talk to the TV anyway. When any of these shows come on while she's in her jumperoo, she gets very excited and starts bouncing up a storm.

Back to the movie...

She did fairly well. A theater screen is a mega giant TV to a little baby, and in the beginning she was sitting on my knee, leaning on the seat in front of her, eyes fixated on the screen. It was so cute. Once I handed her to Daddy she wasn't so willing anymore. We fed her a good 8 ounces while there, and although she was very tired, she just couldn't go to sleep because God forbid she miss anything on her big, amazing TV. Towards the middle she started to let out tiny little shrieks, a sound we'd never heard before. We weren't sure if it was due to excitement or bordem, but I think she was doing it on purpose because as soon as I took her out of the theater room, she wouldn't do it. Every single time.

Eventually I just stood at the back rocking her, and whispering her favorite songs in her ears. It helped, and she stayed quiet as long as she could see the screen. I shielded her eyes from the most "inappropriate" parts, which she didn't like but as soon as I sat down in the back and sang a little louder to her, she accepted it and was fine. (By inappropriate I mean the crashing, fiery or other scenes a baby might retain and have nightmares about.) The ending was happy and serene and she was glad I let her watch it.

All in all, it wasn't too bad but I think we'll stick to just kid movies at the theater for now. Her little noises probably annoyed some of the adults which is understandable, but in a kid movie, loud and boisterous is totally appropriate and expected. Next week we'll probably take her to see "Monsters vs. Aliens" as she gets a kick out of the animated movies. Maybe we'll even take her to the "Hannah Montana" movie coming out soon. She might like that.

The movie itself was okay. I won't ruin it for any of you but the ending was disappointing as it is oh so typical and overused in my opinion.

Over the weekend at home, Ryan and I watched "Marley & Me" and "Seven Pounds". "Marley" was utterly disappointing because it turned out to be not so much a comedy as the ending was morbid, and I bawled my eyes out like a little baby. "Seven Pounds" started out confusing and we stopped with thirty minutes left to go as we were bored. After last night's movie we decided to finish those last thirty minutes and were very surprised at the ending. It all made sense and we agreed that it was a good movie.

That's all for now. I'll let you know how the next theater attempt goes.