Recently Grace went to see Beauty and the Beast in the movie theater. It was the first time she had ever seen it. We went with my mom and sister-in-law. Just the girls.
Grace has a little Belle doll and Beauty and the Beast coloring books but had never seen the movie.
It was awesome.
Her realizing (and she didn’t put the pieces together until the next day) that the prince at the end was in fact the Beast was excellent. It totally reminded me of when I realized that Darth Vader is Luke’s dad.
(Yes my friends, I am indeed that old.)
I don’t take my kids to the movies very often. Ok, let’s be honest. I don’t take them to the movies ever. But I don’t really think about it. I don’t even go to the movies myself. It’s expensive so it never is an option. However, after this I’m thinking nights like this are worth the expense.
Everything was so fun for Grace—the tickets, the seating, the giant screen, the bucket of popcorn she could swim in. It was all magic. And living the experience through her eyes was nothing short of wonderful. (Until it was time to go home that is…and she wanted to stay at the theater “forever”. But that’s another story.)
I don’t know if any of you are like me but I worry about making sure my children have constructive and creative experiences. Up until now I haven’t included the movies as either constructive or creative but now I’m reconsidering.
I don’t think that the movies will become a weekly or even a monthly event but I do think they will be a definite option for family outings. And I think I’m going to be on the look out for a place to see a drive in movie. (Did anyone else go to those as kids???)
****
And in other news I need to announce that the party is over. Awhile ago I mentioned that “The Experiment” would be starting again soon. Soon will be Monday morning. I’ll start Monday and then explain everything a week from today. I know that this paragraph isn’t making much sense. That is ok….the message is really a warning for myself. And I way to make myself get started.
The time is right. I’m excited to do this…I ‘ve just had a hard time setting the go date.
***Oh no! I’ve gotten some emails this morning thinking something is wrong—NOTHING IS WRONG. I’m just going to restart my homemaking experiment that I began a long time ago but never finished….that’s all. The blog will continue business as usual but around my house times they are a changin…starting Monday. No need to be worried—unless your my kids 🙂
What a fun time! We don’t go to movies that often either, but did when we were first married. One of my friends gave us a gift card and we saw matinees (cheaper!) and didn’t buy food ever so we got at least 3 movies out of the gift card. We’ve never taken my daughter, who can barely sit through 1 hour of church. I did go to the drive in once as a child and we saw “honey I shrunk the kids” and “indiana jones and the temple of doom.” We might have to go this summer. 🙂 PS I have no idea what your last paragraph means but I’m sure things will be cleared up next week. 🙂
my kids have never been to the movies, but we will be taking them for the first time to the lorax!! i can not wait! we have a drive-in about 15 minutes from us. very old and vintage. and kinda scary at night. would have guessed we had one up here in the woods of nh right? maybe this year we will take the kids, great idea:)
not sure on the last paragraph either. i hope you are well. im kinda nervous now.
Big screen movies have always fueled my imagination. I used my paper dolls to re enact what Debbie Reynolds and Doris Day did in the movies that lingered in my thoughts. TV never had that impact. BTW I was an adult when Star Wars came out.
We don’t do the movie very often either. I must admit, I felt rather foolish paying the ridiculous fee to see a movie that we own and have watched many times. But my daughter was delighted too and it was worth every penny. 🙂
I remember when Luke found out who his father was, but I was more traumatized by the fact Darth Vader had cut of his HAND!!!! lol
We had a drive in growing up in our little town and it was the thing to do on the weekends. My mom had a station wagon and we would spread blankets in the back and lay down in there while my parents set up chairs in front of us. There was a huge lawn in front of the screen so kids would be playing ball and running around before the movie started. Great, great memories. You should definitely find one.
I don’t take my kids to the movies very often either because I think a lot of the movies for kids are usually either boring or unwholesome and my 2 year old actually got totally scared at Happy Feet 2. It was so dark and wierd! I did take them to see The Muppet Movie and they enjoyed it but I think I enjoyed it even more! I loved the Muppet Show as a kid.
Justine
I’m loving that they’re re-releasing the old Disney movies so I can now experience them with my daughter, but it’s definitely not a regular outing. And we do go to the Drive Inn all the time in the summer. There’s still one on Redwood Road and 5300 South in Salt Lake and my daughter loves it (and I love it because I don’t have to worry about her being quiet through the movie). (BTW, I work with your mom, which is why I know SLC is fairly close–not a stalker 😉 ) Love your blog!
Something we do that my kids love is to take them to plays at the highschool here. The school tries to do a lot of family friendly shows. We have seen The Lion The Witch and The Wardrove, Alice In Wonderland, and Rogers and Hamersteins Cinderella. It gives a little culture and supports the local schools. My kids have just loved it! Of course you have to give up the giant sized popcorn, but other than that it is great 🙂