Amelia's first movie
Hi, this is Mike. So, today I thought it would be nice to take Amelia to our quaint downtown movie theater. They have the 'G' rated "Meet the Robinsons" and after playing outside in the morning, a movie seemed like a good idea since it was a hot day.
The movie was scheduled to start at 2:00 and we got there with about ten minutes to spare. Amelia is almost three, but not quite, so she didn't have to pay! (I would have paid for her anyway :-) We got up to the concession stand and I ordered myself some popcorn and a Pepsi and Amelia a kid's combo. She saw the popcorn and was jumping to reach it on the counter, she was so excited. Her combo also came with a box of Mike & Ike's (or as Amelia called, them, "jellybeans") and a drink - water, for her.
We got into the theater and it was small, and empty. No, wait, there were a couple of teenagers making out in the corner, but that was all. Amelia and I took a seat in the middle - she knew how to work the fold-down seat because it was just like the baseball game. I was optimistic that there would only be a few people there, which wsa great in case Amelia decided to make noise. After all, the teenagers wouldn't care.
But, lo and behold, several more people (all families with kids) came in just as the previews were starting. I suppose people more movie-savvy than me realize that a 2:00 picture actually doesn't start until about 2:15, with everything that's tacked onto the beginning. There was a small boy that looked maybe about 1, so Amelia wasn't even the youngest.
When the green "This preview is approved for all audiences" screen came on, Amelia said (quite loudly), "Oooh, it's a DVD!" She didn't seem to understand the Spiderman preview, but she really enjoyed the Shrek trailer - Shrek 2 is one of her favorites. After a couple more previews, they showed a Mickey Mouse short - something I thought was great. She saw Mickey, Donald, and Goofy - all folks she knew. And all the while she was eating her - and my - popcorn, having a great time.
Then the movie started, and it was a pretty good animated film. It was about a boy, an orphan, who is really smart and invents something really cool for the science fair - a memory device so he could try to remember his mother. But some time travelers came back to stop him. Kind of like a kid-friendly Terminator, I guess.
One thing Amelia didn't get was that you have to be quiet in the movies. I tried explaining it to her, but she just would get so excited to see something she knew (like big singing frogs, or a dinosaur) she had to tell everyone. And she would repeat herself until I acknowledged that, yes, that was a giant bubble she saw (or whatever). Not that she was the only one that was a little noisy, but still, I decided we should take a little trip outside. The door had a glass window and was pretty thin - we could see and hear everything just fine from the other side. And, lo and behold, a couple of minutes later the one-year-old and his dad came out too. The dad and I exchanged a look, and a nod - one of understanding of mutual fathers of toddlers who can't always sit still for two hours!
We talked and she finished her "jellybeans" then went back in - but this time, on the side and further up. She was a good girl, and even when she did talk, folks couldn't hear from our new location. By the time it was over, she was a happy, bouncy little Amelia. All things considered, I think she did very well.
I think, though, that what she remembers most are the jellybeans... but that's okay. After all, they were Mike and Ike's... mmm, good.
The movie was scheduled to start at 2:00 and we got there with about ten minutes to spare. Amelia is almost three, but not quite, so she didn't have to pay! (I would have paid for her anyway :-) We got up to the concession stand and I ordered myself some popcorn and a Pepsi and Amelia a kid's combo. She saw the popcorn and was jumping to reach it on the counter, she was so excited. Her combo also came with a box of Mike & Ike's (or as Amelia called, them, "jellybeans") and a drink - water, for her.
We got into the theater and it was small, and empty. No, wait, there were a couple of teenagers making out in the corner, but that was all. Amelia and I took a seat in the middle - she knew how to work the fold-down seat because it was just like the baseball game. I was optimistic that there would only be a few people there, which wsa great in case Amelia decided to make noise. After all, the teenagers wouldn't care.
But, lo and behold, several more people (all families with kids) came in just as the previews were starting. I suppose people more movie-savvy than me realize that a 2:00 picture actually doesn't start until about 2:15, with everything that's tacked onto the beginning. There was a small boy that looked maybe about 1, so Amelia wasn't even the youngest.
When the green "This preview is approved for all audiences" screen came on, Amelia said (quite loudly), "Oooh, it's a DVD!" She didn't seem to understand the Spiderman preview, but she really enjoyed the Shrek trailer - Shrek 2 is one of her favorites. After a couple more previews, they showed a Mickey Mouse short - something I thought was great. She saw Mickey, Donald, and Goofy - all folks she knew. And all the while she was eating her - and my - popcorn, having a great time.
Then the movie started, and it was a pretty good animated film. It was about a boy, an orphan, who is really smart and invents something really cool for the science fair - a memory device so he could try to remember his mother. But some time travelers came back to stop him. Kind of like a kid-friendly Terminator, I guess.
One thing Amelia didn't get was that you have to be quiet in the movies. I tried explaining it to her, but she just would get so excited to see something she knew (like big singing frogs, or a dinosaur) she had to tell everyone. And she would repeat herself until I acknowledged that, yes, that was a giant bubble she saw (or whatever). Not that she was the only one that was a little noisy, but still, I decided we should take a little trip outside. The door had a glass window and was pretty thin - we could see and hear everything just fine from the other side. And, lo and behold, a couple of minutes later the one-year-old and his dad came out too. The dad and I exchanged a look, and a nod - one of understanding of mutual fathers of toddlers who can't always sit still for two hours!
We talked and she finished her "jellybeans" then went back in - but this time, on the side and further up. She was a good girl, and even when she did talk, folks couldn't hear from our new location. By the time it was over, she was a happy, bouncy little Amelia. All things considered, I think she did very well.
I think, though, that what she remembers most are the jellybeans... but that's okay. After all, they were Mike and Ike's... mmm, good.
posted by Lisa, Mike, Amelia, and Diana at 7:23 PM
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