Mom Milestone: Baby's First Movie

Now that the weather is finally breaking, my son and I are venturing out a lot more. With the snow, cold temps and everyone else sick, it was not worth taking him many places. Being out and about now is opening up a whole new world for him. He’s almost six months old and he is becoming very aware of his surroundings.

During a recent visit with family, my nieces wanted to see the movie "Hop.’"I was a little nervous bringing a baby to the movies, as I didn’t know how long he would be quiet and not squirm about so much. I also leery, as I don’t remember seeing many babies in a movie theater. My sister assured me that people bring babies to the movies all the time.

We decided to see the movie on its opening day. With many schools in the area on spring break, we knew the theater would be packed. Plus, in true Ohio fashion, the weather was lousy so many families needed indoor activities to keep the kids entertained.

A line for tickets was already forming when we got to the theatre. We began to hear rumblings that the 2:00 p.m. showing was close to selling out. Luckily, there was another movie at 3:00 p.m. so we would not have to wait too long.

Since I had the baby with me, I'd tried to time his feeding and diaper change around the movie. Unfortunately, it was the 2:00 showing I had prepared him for. I wasn’t planning on waiting another hour, with the movie lasting another 90 minutes after. The baby wasn’t planning for that, either.

As we finally entered the theater I could see all eyes were on me. It was the look you give when a family is on an airplane with small children. Even though we love children, there is a small piece in all of us that hopes they don’t sit next to us.  Who among us doesn’t have a good screaming baby story?

A few minutes later, another family arrived with a baby who appeared to be younger than my son. I felt comfort for a few minutes. I say a few minutes because just as the movie was about to begin, my son decided he was hungry. He began screaming which seemed much louder to me in the big, cavernous room. My sister quickly prepared the bottle for him while I desperately tried to keep the binkie stuffed in his mouth.  I’m sure the people in the room were hoping he would quiet down quickly. Once the bottle was inserted, all was right with the world.

Soon after he finished the bottle, he fell asleep. Maybe the dark room and music from the movie made him feel like it was nighttime. He slept for about 20 minutes and then woke up to watch the movie. He seemed very involved in the bunny’s animation. I read many bunny stories to him and he has several bunny stuffed animals. I wonder how much he interprets in his young life. It was fun to watch the look on his face as the bunny in the movie hopped around.

I’m not here to give a movie review, but the movie wasn’t all it was hyped up to be. It’s not getting great reviews from the professional critics either. But it was entertaining and a cute movie for kids given the fact Easter is right around the corner.

For our first movie experience, all seemed to go well, although timing surely means everything. Happy spring!