Movies

Several weeks ago (August 15th to be exact) we took Spencer to the movies for the first time. I'm obviously very late in blogging about this, but I want to have a record of it for my increasingly failing memory.

Although Spencer has never watched any other Pixar movies we thought that Toy Story 3 was the most appropriate movie out there at the time. We'd been talking about it for a while and decided that it was finally the day. It wasn't a disaster, but it wasn't a smashing success either.

The original plan was to go to the 2:20 showing at the Harkins closest to us. We got there around 2:10 thinking that the less time we had to sit in the theatre the better. Toy Story had been out for months and we figured the theatre would be empty. Wrong. At 2:10 they couldn't even sell us tickets because there weren't enough seats left (although they never said the words "sold out").

What do we do now? Spencer is really excited to go now because we've spent all day hyping it for him. Going by memory (because we don't have phones with web access) we drive to another Harkins. Memory fail, it's not even playing there. So we drive to another Harkins. Damn. Not there either. So we get a snack and then drive to an AMC.......where Spencer is a full price ticket (he would have been free at Harkins). It cost us $30 to go to this little movie.

He was really excited during the previews. Then the movie started and about 15 minutes into it he dropped his water bottle on the floor between the seats. I simply bent over and picked it up, but the whole experience really freaked him out. I think he thought his bottle fell really far and that he was never going to get it back. He started sobbing uncontrollably- the kind of crying where no sound is even coming out. We got him calmed down but it was the beginning of the end. He had no problem sitting through the whole movie, but he told us every 4-5 minutes that he didn't like the movie. I think he thought it was scary. And you know, I can see his point. Spencer's entire TV/movie experience consists of Baby Einstein, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, Caillou, Sesame Street, Clifford, Curious George, Barney and Little People. The scene where the toys are headed toward the fire was downright horrific compared to anything else Spencer has ever seen.

We got through the whole thing though and I see the potential for more movie going in the future. We just won't bring any water bottles. Oh, and by the way, Spencer is still talking about dropping that water bottle. It comes up at least once a day. This is a sample of how he drops it into the conversation:

Me: Spencer, you need to help clean up your toys/get dressed/eat your dinner/take a nap/get in the shower/put your shoes on.

Spencer: No mommy, I can't. I'm just so sad (with pouty face and teary eyes and bottom lip sticking out).

Me: Why are you sad?

Spencer: Because I dropped my water bottle at the movies.

He's either emotionally disturbed or a master manipulator. I don't know which one is preferable.