Cars
On Saturday I got the bright idea that I should introduce Nikolai to a movie theater. We have a tiny little theater in Scotts Valley which is just perfect for first time introductions. We've hesitated up to now because of his unusually sensitive nature which causes a fear of most media (aimed at seriously desensitized children) combined with his tendency to be completely overwhelmed with anything that involves noise above a whisper. Between these two things we figured it could be recipe for disaster, and so we waited patiently for the right movie to come along. This weekend, it did. "Cars" made its debut on the screen on Friday, and by Saturday I had concocted a plan for a visit to the theater on Sunday. I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to introduce him to the loud sound of the movies and previews, but figured the perfect solution might strike me when I got there.
Exercising my typical sensibility and foresight, I headed straight to the movies with a three year old with no food, no jacket and not a moment's glance online at movie times. Consequently we got there two hours early for the movie and were challenged with the task of entertaining an eager and excited three year old repeating "we're going to see a movie! and we're going to get popcorn! and candy!! and bubblies!" over and over again until he was getting no respose from the adults and so was just whispering it to himself. We got some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from the grocery store, and actually convinced him to eat a couple (protein...thank goodness.) We visited the birds, bunnies and fishies at the pet store. This visit only lasted about 10 minutes because the birds were so loud he didn't want to stay in the store. We stopped in at the hardware store so I could check out the rototillers and other various gardening supplies. That killed another 10 minutes. The lady at the ticket counter had told us to come about 1/2 an hour early for the movie because she thought it would sell out like the previous showings had, and thought we might want to come early to assure good seating.
About 40 minutes before the movie we could entertain him no longer and decided to head into the theater. He was really excited about the whole thing (popcorn and candy and bubblies...oh my!), and was getting tough to contain. It struck me suddenly what the perfect solution was for introducing him to the overwhelming stimulus of the theater itself -- I would go into the theater while the previous showing was still going!! This way we would miss the action packed previews and noisy evil THX robots with their fiendish bands of cows, and he could just see the cars themselves.
I asked him if he wanted to check it out and he said "Yeah!", so we headed into the theater, standing cautiously by the door. He had his fingers plugged tightly into his ear canals, but was watching the screen intently. He basically did not move for about 3 minutes (blink honey...blink), and so I slowly reached up and tugged on one of fingers 'til it dislodged from his ear canal. He sat there with it poised by his ear for a few moments, and then realizing that the sound would not, in fact, cause him to spontaneously combust, he removed the other finger from his other ear and dropped his arms by his sides.
Realizing this was indeed a solid victory, I remained about 2 more minutes and then carried him out of the theater. He was reaching behind me saying loudly "In there, mama! I wanna go in there! Can we go watch that movie again? Please? Can we?"
I was triumphant.
I would have felt so clever, if it hadn't been for the previous 2 hours of torture resulting from my complete lack of planning.
By the time the movie actually started Nikolai had eaten 3/4 of a box of whoppers and staunchly refused any popcorn or bubbly. About 80% of the way through the movie he started to lose it. The chair was a little too hard (rock hard booster seats -- note to self: next time bring pillow for tiny bottom). The music was a little too loud. The child talking behind us was a tad too distracting and so he insisted on turning around and having a conversation with her. Sugar crash coming on and tantrums inevitable we took him out of the theater.
All in all not a bad experience, and I think next time will be easier. Next time I'll check movie times. Next time I'll bring a pillow for the tiny bottom. Next time I'll get the "kids pack" instead of a full adult size serving of whoppers (never mind that even an adult should not eat a whole box of whoppers). I think he remembers it fondly. I think I always will, too.
Exercising my typical sensibility and foresight, I headed straight to the movies with a three year old with no food, no jacket and not a moment's glance online at movie times. Consequently we got there two hours early for the movie and were challenged with the task of entertaining an eager and excited three year old repeating "we're going to see a movie! and we're going to get popcorn! and candy!! and bubblies!" over and over again until he was getting no respose from the adults and so was just whispering it to himself. We got some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from the grocery store, and actually convinced him to eat a couple (protein...thank goodness.) We visited the birds, bunnies and fishies at the pet store. This visit only lasted about 10 minutes because the birds were so loud he didn't want to stay in the store. We stopped in at the hardware store so I could check out the rototillers and other various gardening supplies. That killed another 10 minutes. The lady at the ticket counter had told us to come about 1/2 an hour early for the movie because she thought it would sell out like the previous showings had, and thought we might want to come early to assure good seating.
About 40 minutes before the movie we could entertain him no longer and decided to head into the theater. He was really excited about the whole thing (popcorn and candy and bubblies...oh my!), and was getting tough to contain. It struck me suddenly what the perfect solution was for introducing him to the overwhelming stimulus of the theater itself -- I would go into the theater while the previous showing was still going!! This way we would miss the action packed previews and noisy evil THX robots with their fiendish bands of cows, and he could just see the cars themselves.
I asked him if he wanted to check it out and he said "Yeah!", so we headed into the theater, standing cautiously by the door. He had his fingers plugged tightly into his ear canals, but was watching the screen intently. He basically did not move for about 3 minutes (blink honey...blink), and so I slowly reached up and tugged on one of fingers 'til it dislodged from his ear canal. He sat there with it poised by his ear for a few moments, and then realizing that the sound would not, in fact, cause him to spontaneously combust, he removed the other finger from his other ear and dropped his arms by his sides.
Realizing this was indeed a solid victory, I remained about 2 more minutes and then carried him out of the theater. He was reaching behind me saying loudly "In there, mama! I wanna go in there! Can we go watch that movie again? Please? Can we?"
I was triumphant.
I would have felt so clever, if it hadn't been for the previous 2 hours of torture resulting from my complete lack of planning.
By the time the movie actually started Nikolai had eaten 3/4 of a box of whoppers and staunchly refused any popcorn or bubbly. About 80% of the way through the movie he started to lose it. The chair was a little too hard (rock hard booster seats -- note to self: next time bring pillow for tiny bottom). The music was a little too loud. The child talking behind us was a tad too distracting and so he insisted on turning around and having a conversation with her. Sugar crash coming on and tantrums inevitable we took him out of the theater.
All in all not a bad experience, and I think next time will be easier. Next time I'll check movie times. Next time I'll bring a pillow for the tiny bottom. Next time I'll get the "kids pack" instead of a full adult size serving of whoppers (never mind that even an adult should not eat a whole box of whoppers). I think he remembers it fondly. I think I always will, too.
posted by rebecca at 9:52 AM
3 Comments:
awww. big hugs for the little bottom.
oh, this is so you! I can't believe, well, yes I can, that you didn't check movie times ;) Sounds like he had a blast and that is all that really matters anyway.
I'm amazed she didn't spend the two hours trying to figure out where she wanted to get the sandwiches.
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