"Skiddoosh"

Yesterday I had the privilege of taking my 2 1/2 year old to the movies. We almost had to abort the mission when we arrived at 12:02 to an 11:45 showing. We entered the theater and as we walked up the aisle towards the seats, a scary part of a scene played. My initial thought was "WTF, it already started? I thought this was the 12:15 show!" For two year olds, you hear exactly what they're thinking, and in this instance it was:

"I WANNA GO HOME!"

I coaxed her towards the exit (which is the same door as the entrance) and went back out to the ticket taker, who then welcomed me, for the second time, to Loews. I thought, "Dude, you just took my ticket a minute ago." I said, "Um, this ticket is for the 11:45 show. It's already started and I wanted a ticket for the 12:15 show."

Without sending me back to the ticket counter for the correctly stamped tickets (thank goodness for common sense because toting an Icee, a bag of popcorn and holding a 2 year old's hand while trying to conduct a ticket exchange didn't sound appealing to me), he directed me to the right theater.

Take 2.

We entered again, me, spilling popcorn while dragging my kid, who was still hesitant about the whole movie thing. We made it up the aisle, and across the divide between the neck breaking seats and the normal seats. We settled into an island of three seats just behind the divide. I sat down, continuing to spill popcorn, while my kid, who was experiencing her first taste of the stuff, was grabbing for the kernels that plopped to the floor. "No, no, no, don't eat those," I said. The five second rule does not apply in the movies, but it was already too late. I find the best way to remind myself that a few germs won't kill her is to remember how much bacteria laden crap I must have consumed as a child. It's the "hey, I turned out okay," line of reasoning.

We sit through almost twenty minutes of previews. The Wall-E (Pixar) one is amazing. I am glad we're in a dark theater so no one can see the tears coming. Yes, I am a sap at the movies, but only for cartoon trailers, nothing else. Seriously, I just thought of how breathtaking the images were for that film and how much I look forward to watching the entire story. Other cartoons that brought tears: Iron Giant, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc. (not anymore, I've seen it about 50 times)...yup I am a big ol' sap. Just for cartoons, though. You can show me real human sob stories and I'm hard pressed not to feel like I've been manipulated into crying. Cartoons, on the other hand--well they are just so derned innocent. I can't help it, I tell you!

The movie starts. I think "Oh boy, we have to sit through the scary scene again--maybe it won't be so scary the second time around." I get a few "I WANNA GO HOME!"'s throughout the movie, but mostly I get wide eyes and a hand shoved into the bag of popcorn or in her mouth. I get through it without tantrums, freak outs, or having to chase a wandering kid through the theater. It was an overall success. The funniest part is that she's more obsessed with the movie after having seen it. I've played the trailer many times now--so often that I say "Skiddoosh" and it results in a flurry of toddler laughter.

:)