When I realized that park and the beach were totally not feasible I thought we'd try out something new.
I prepped Marcus for hours, telling him of a special surprise, a special date we were going on. Internally I was pumped, and terrified.
We were going to the movies. The only movie showing that I thought would be remotely appropriate for Marcus was Penguins of Madagascar.
Our date started strong.
During the previews things were going well. My little man sat quietly and munched on his goodies like a champ.
Then the movie began, and all seemed well in our world.
Then we hit the scary part, and it was all down hill from there. Marcus' little bottom lip began to quiver, and he quietly began to chant, "I'm ready to go home." I quickly exited, made a beeline for the bathroom, and thought maybe by the time we returned to our seats the scariness would be over. I couldn't have been more wrong.
There were only a handful of other moms with kids in the theatre, but I didn't want to totally ruin their experience with Marcus' terrified wails.
Frantically I packed up our items and high tailed it out of there.
We made it 45 minutes (15 of which were previews)…
We will try again when Marcus is older. Like, 5 years old. Maybe 8. Probably 12.
Seriously though, can someone please tell me when is a good age to take kids to the theatre (2.5 years is obviously not the age)? And where are the movies that aren't going to scare my kid senseless?
I don't understand why kids' movies have scary parts! Zachary has been scared in every movie we've seen in the theater including curious george, planes, and frozen.
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew the right age. Henry's almost 5 and he still can't totally handle theater movies because of the scary parts. I really wish they could have a movie without the deep, dark scenes!
ReplyDeletePoor thing!! Michael and I were just talking about this the other night while M was watching Frozen. Even that movie, for all its hype and glory, has some scary scenes. The one that bothers Chickie the most is the snow monster Elsa makes to keep her sister and Kristoff out. I mean - WHY?? It's such a random scene anyway and oh! Let's throw in this awful snow monster for...what point again??? I don't think we will take M to a movie until she is 5 or maybe even 6. We took her to a 30 minute Christmas show at the campus planetarium last weekend and that was almost stretching it for her with attention span, etc. I just don't think the little have it in them to be that focused for a full out movie. I mean, she'll watch them at home but that's one thing - she can walk around, she can talk when she wants, etc. Can't do that in a theatre and I don't think she's old enough to understand the difference yet.
ReplyDeletewe havent taken Marissa to the movie theatre yet, and she will vbe 4 next month. however, this summer and last, we have taken her to the drive-in and she LOVED it. the first year we saw Despicable Me 2 and this year we saw Planes Fire & Rescue (duh, right?!). I have played with the idea of taking her to the theatre but I just feel like it is so overwhelming for her yet. as for the scary parts, I chalk it up to the fact that the movie industry is not gearing "kids movies" towards kids anymore. which is super disappointing.
ReplyDeleteYou are so brave! I desperately want to take Mac to the movies, but I know we wouldn't even make it 15 minutes. You guys did great, in my book! I don't know what the right age is, but 2.5 is not it for us either! Maybe girls have longer attention spans, but my little wild child could not handle it. A for effort though!
ReplyDeletei wanted to take crue to this! and the big hero 6. because i want to see them, ha ha. he has been to…4 movies? 3 of which he was like under 6 months old and slept through the entire thing. thank goodness our theater has kick ass leather recliners. but i don't doubt that 2-4 is probably a really hard age for movies!
ReplyDeleteps. dying, DYING for a sour patch now. thank you.
Poor Marcus :(. That stinks so much for both of you. Emily has ALWAYS been super sensitive to this stuff to and when we went to the dollar movies this summer I often found myself watching her more than the movies. If I find any good ones, I'll let you know.
ReplyDeleteWe took Connor to a movie and I think he lasted about the same... maybe even less. I am hoping to try again when we move to Ohio when we aren't able to get out as often due to weather issues.
ReplyDeleteEvery kids is different -- Bren has been good to go for a couple of years now (late 3's/early 4's) but other kids his age (almost 6) still can't handle sitting still that long. Gauge it by how well he sits through a movie at home - when he can do that then he'll be ready for the theater. :)
ReplyDeleteoh no to the scary part! If it isn't Sofia or Mickey Aria really has no interest in it, so I just can't imagine her wanting to watch a theater movie. She'd be down for some 'pop corns' though.
ReplyDeletesounds like you had all the goods to make it fun but it just didn't work. thTs ok. I have no idea when is the right she but I know it's not now for us. Although maybe if a princess movie came out we might take the plunge! And I agree why do kids movies need any scary parts?!
ReplyDeleteOh no!!!! Lily is sensitive to movies as well. We haven't tried the actual theater yet though...waiting for those dollar days in the summer to come back around just in case it is a total failure. Studio Movie Grill is doing $2 dollar Christmas movies next week. I seem to remember seeing a kid friendly few on the line up. Maybe it's a nationwide thing? Plus there is the distraction of a meal too. That's an activity, ya know. haha!
ReplyDeleteCame across your blog and loved it so much I'm your newest follower.
ReplyDeletePoor baby, I remember those days when I took my first child to the movies and it didn't go so well. I think it really depends on the child if the are tv watchers then the younger for movies is prob better but if not wait until they are older. My youngest is 6 and sometimes he does great and other he is over it.
Oh no!!! Poor Marcus! (And mommy). Honestly, I think it was the movie. We took Mason to see Planes : Fire and Rescue on his 2nd birthday and he sat like a champ through the whole thing. Well... he sat in his seat, on Seth's lap, on my lap, in his seat, on my lap, in his seat, on Seth's lap, etc but we made it in the theater the whole movie despite the musical chairs. I think if you found a much more Disney rated G movie, Marcus might enjoy it and be able to sit through the whole thing. If he has the attention span at home to sit and watch a movie, he would be ok in a theater given the right movie I think.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry it didn't work out!
My sister-in-law and brother have been taking my niece to movies since she was 2 and she loves it! We have only tried once with Emma and made it a whopping 10 minutes. I haven't had the desire to make it back there and you know what? There are hundreds of other activities that we can enjoy together. We're so content with waiting until they hit DVD or Netflix.
ReplyDeleteIt really depends on the kid. Hannah is pretty good (for my husband) in the theater. She went at 2.5 for the first time. I don't think I would take Meeghan because she isn't into movies like Hannah. I would say try again in 6 months to see if it is better.
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