Cinematic Fun

We've been toying with the idea of taking the kids to a movie for a while.  We weren't quite sure it was a good idea, for many reasons, but since Jason is  on vacation for a few days, we decided to give it a whirl with Wall-E.  It looked pretty tame based on a review at www.kids-in-mind.com. 

We anticipated that the volume would be too much for Alanna, but outside of that, we weren't sure what to expect...though we knew to keep our expectations low.  We were well aware that we might end up walking out with all three of them after a short time....or that maybe one of us would wind up in Barnes and Noble waiting it out with one (or two) kids until the movie ended for anyone who might have been enjoying it. 

Everyone was excited...we had treats, blankets (in case it got cold or to serve as ear muffs), backup clothes for Emory, diapers just in case, and two large doses of patience.  We had planned to get there early, so the kids could get acclimated to the environment with the lights on and without the noise.  However, when they opened the doors, the lights were already down and the previews were already playing...loudly...even for me and Jason.  Alanna and Aidan were quite unhappy for a while, but Emory was just fine.  She sat in her own seat, while Aidan and Alanna curled up into Jason and me with their hands over their eyes just stressed as could be.  After a while, I took Alanna out for a short break, and by a nice stroke of luck, we returned during a nice quiet scene.  She was pretty happy from then on.  Aidan was still struggling, but he was hanging in there.  We took a little break, too, and when we returned he looked a little more relaxed for a while.  He made it through the movie, and he wanted to see what was happening, but he was not a very happy camper.  Emory was very happy...eating popcorn (a first for all of them)...always wondering where Wall-E was when he wasn't on-screen.  With about 30 minutes to go, she just needed to get down and move a little.  Understandable...she'd been sitting for about an hour straight.

When it was all said and done, Alanna decided she liked the movie experience, Emory was unphased but I doubt she understood much other than who the characters were.  She was entertained though.  Aidan said he didn't like anything about it at all...except the snuggling and the treats. 

And by the way, Emory made it 3 hours without hitting the potty during this adventure, despite our attempts to prompt her to go.  We were nervous (especially Jason, who was holding her in his lap at times, but we had a waterproof pad to protect the seat just in case.  She earned her first Lightning McQueen sticker today, which is reserved for accident-free days!  She knows when she needs to go and is very consistent.  She is very proud of herself (as she should be), and I am so proud of her!