If You Take a Toddler to the Movies....

She's going to want some pop ohn.

If you give her some pop ohn, she'll inevitably choke and need a pip of your soda.

And since you know what she does in straws, then you'll have to buy her her own drink.

Then you don't want to lose your seats, so you send your 9.5 year old with a $10 bill.

If you send big sis with money, then you'll stress she'll get ripped off at the snack counter.

And when she comes back with $1.50 and the cashier actually helped her save money, you smile knowing there are still nice people in the world.

Then, when the 2 year old's drink is done you'll need to have her blankie and baba as backup.

When you realize she's drank her weight in fluid, you'll think about changing her diaper.

When you consider the other 2 kids would be alone while you take the toddler to the potty, you'll stress that someone will call CPS on you for abandonment.

So you skip the diaper change.

Tired and sweaty look at your watch cell phone and realize you've only been at the movies for 10 minutes and you still have an hour, fifty minutes to go.

If you try and relax and realize that she's really doing a great job, she'll amazingly surprise you and be a doll the ENTIRE movie.

You leave the theater praising her for being such a good girl and promise you'll be back.

And if you promise, chances are, you will be back.

*Bonus, the theater is hosting $1.50 movies all summer long!

40 supporters in group:

  1. Susie said...

    LOL--I'd skip the diaper change too! Great job braving the movies--good to hear it won't break the bank!

  2. John Deere Mom said...

    I love it! So cute and so true! I have my students write stories in this form every year and they get a kick out of it. (They're never as cute as this, though!)

  3. Scary Mommy said...

    I'm planning on braving the theater next week with mine. Sounds like a decent way to kill 90 minutes!

  4. Brittany said...

    You are so lucky! we did this with the boys...they were good most of the time, and I made the same promise...but I have yet to go back. i figure i can't have the same good luck twice!

  5. Anonymous said...

    You obviously weren't seeing WALL-E. Because of you were you would have added in how horrifically boring it was!

  6. Meg said...

    You are brave--skipped a few diapers changes myself! Glad it worked out.

  7. Sarah McBride said...

    I love your take on If you give a mouse a cookie.

    pop ohn and pip of soda. How cute is she??

  8. Lori said...

    You are a brave woman! There is no chance that I would take my little people to the movies...maybe the 3 year old but not even sure about him...maybe if it was only $1.50 to get in. They can hardly sit still at home for more than 5 minutes to watch something.

    Glad you and your kids had a good time!

  9. Cheryl Lage said...

    Perfection!

    Perhaps after this afternnon's Chuck E Cheese party we are slated to attend, we'll have to do a version of "If you give your twins some tokens..."

    Have a great weekend!

  10. Kelly said...

    oh that is so funny..
    we bribed Jack with M&M's to sit still during Bee Movie..

  11. Anonymous said...

    Oh. This makes me want to try taking my kids to the movies. Except I know what my boy, the light-bulb head, will do: yell and bounce in his seat and spill crap and drive me and everybody else nuts.

  12. Aubrey said...

    We decided that we will do a family outing to our drive in theater tonight...Toddler included **shudder**! I hope he does as well as your little one! **fingers crossed!**

  13. Tasha said...

    Oh girl, I SO feel ya here. Even though I only have 2 kids! I have not braved the movies alone yet with my kids....maybe in 5 years I will? Ha.

    You could always drink a few glasses of wine before ya go- it was totally change the experience....

  14. Ranch Girl said...

    Cute post, Jen! As always, I check my email first, then your blog :-)

  15. Ali said...

    I'm going to attempt to take a 6 and 4 year old to a matinee next week. By myself. I'm a little nervous:)

  16. Merrie said...

    I just wish it would be $1.50 in the evenings, too!

    Good job, K! I hate missing out on those 10am movies. :(

  17. Clare said...

    This is so cute Jen, I love these books too. I always read them to my kiddos when I was teaching. Sounds like she did great! XO, Clare

  18. Tiffany said...

    You're very brave! I can barely handle one 4 year old by myself. And I totally agree about the drinking after them thing. I've SEEN his sippy cup and it ain't pretty. LOL

  19. Rochelle said...

    And next time you can ask the nice mom sitting next to you to watch the two big kids while you go to the snack bar or bathroom to change the diaper. But that wouldn't make such a cute post so never mind! tee hee.

  20. Bee said...

    1.50! wow. Now that is do-able.

    So what did you end up seeing?

  21. Tena said...

    So glad she did good! We ventured out to see the free summer movie on Wednesday, and your post summed up what we went through with 'J', add a million and one questions on our end though.
    Glad you all had fun!

  22. Insane Mama said...

    I am so over taking my kids to the movies, with four kids and us, it costs way too much! Don't worry about CPS, everybody leaves there kids for a minute or two!

  23. A Crafty Mom said...

    Glad it went pretty well :-) I took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda a few weeks ago . . . not entirely successful, lol. I'm not ready to give up though, stories like yours give me hope!

  24. Tenakim said...

    I love when they do those summer movie programs- I'll have to find one here! Don't think I'll be as lucky as you were- sounds like your little ones behaved great!

  25. Mel said...

    You are so creative with your posts. Too cute using the mouse story format. I am not a huge fan of movies because it is torture with my daughter not only for me, but for the rest of the audience too. I can't wait till she gets a bit older to enjoy it.

  26. Jaime said...

    Oh, I know the toddler-at-the-movies all too well!

    I clicked on your blog from http://5150mommy.blogspot.com and I'm also a SITS reader!

    I'm enjoying your blog!

  27. Jill said...

    $1.50 movies? WHAT???

    We just took the girls to see WALL.E and it cost us $33... add in the $6 popcorn and $3.75 drink and it was more expensive than date-night!

    I want to go to your theatre....

  28. Paula Lynn Johnson said...

    This was brilliant.

    If it were my kid, it would have read: "If you give him some pop ohn, he'll use it to bean the elderly man with the big head sitting directly in front of him."

  29. flickrlovr said...

    $1.50 is waaay better than our $9.25ers! Jeez.

    Yay, Baby K! What a trooper.

    "If You Give A Mouse..." is one of my favorite series of books. Cute idea for a post ;)

  30. Rebecca said...

    What a good little girl K is, so what movie did you see? Shrek was it like your image??

    I have not taken my little ones to the movies yet, I don't trust they will be good, they are to feral to sit that long I think. lol

  31. Clare Anzoleaga said...

    Hi! *Applause* Well done! :)

  32. Unknown said...

    I'm sooo glad someone else thinks about CPS being called, besides me!!! LOL Thanks so much for stopping by, I'm so flattered that you read about my crazy family.

  33. TUTU Monkey said...

    ooooo.....love it...you are too funny. I have not done a movie yet....on the list.:)

  34. Such The Spot said...

    I love your blog. You are one funny gal.

    I haven't braved the movies with my little one yet. Although we did take him to back to school night tonight and while the teacher was making her announcements and the room was silent he blew a major fart and then proudly claimed it, pointing to his but and saying fart, fart. He wouldn't be quiet about it until he was acknowledged. Fun stuff. I think we'll hold out on the movies for awhile.

  35. Amber said...

    Sounds like a successful trip. What movie did you see? I don't think we are ready to brave the movies yet. Maybe in a year or two.

  36. Rachel said...

    Lol -- sounds hilarious. I haven't been brave enough to take my little one to the movies. Makes me nervous just thinking about it!

  37. Rachel said...

    Lol -- sounds hilarious. I haven't been brave enough to take my little one to the movies. Makes me nervous just thinking about it!

  38. Finding Normal said...

    Oh man! I want cheap movies! I took Noah (3.5) to the library's free showing of A Bug's Life last week. He ate his weight in popcorn, drank a mini-Sprite, and complained, asking each time the scene changed if it was time to go yet. Good thing it was free because I didn't watch any of it!

  39. Rach (Mommy Learns to Blog) said...

    When I first started reading this, all I could think was "If You Give a Pig a Pancake"!

    I'm glad you had such a great experience - not sure if you remember reading my blog a few weeks back but our trip to Kung Fu Panda was not quite as successful and we will not be returning to the theater (unless it's date night!) for some time!

  40. Corey~living and loving said...

    LOVE this....so creative. we love those books! :)

    oh I have been MIA my computer is ill. sigh.....

    I did read your other posts though. keep the music. It is your thang.....and you have good taste. :)

Related Posts with Thumbnails