Monkey Business

I took Emma and Mary to the movie theater for our first adventure with kids and movies. My friend Trica (pronounced Tricia) brought her 2 year old daughter Zoe and we all went to see Curious George. To begin with, the only time we could go was 5 PM. When we set a date for the movie, I was kind of thinking along the lines of 10 in the morning. But that was not to be. So, after naps and in lieu of dinner, I packed up the girls and headed to Emagine theater. When I got there I inquired about pricing for kids. $5.75 per, I was told. I motioned to my kids.

For them?

Yes, for them.

Even for the little one?

Yes.

But she's only 18 months old!

Every person has to have a ticket, she said, eyeing Mary with a bit of distaste. That ran me $18. Then we got to the concession stand. Seeing as it was right at dinner time, I had already figured that there was no way to avoid buying food. I scanned the menu and found a wonderful little kid's combo, for a mere $5. Well you know my girls are just old enough to want their OWN. So I thought, instead of $10 (and nothing for me), I would work it another way. So I bought a medium popcorn (hey, it was my dinner, too) and 2 kid's drinks. That was $9.25. Thank GOODNESS I thought up that money saving idea. So we went and sat down. Everything was fabulous - Emma and Zoe were LAUGHING and LAUGHING with each other. It was so incredibly cute! And Mary was content to hold her pop and munch on popcorn that I put on her napkin in her lap. Trica and I exchanged happy looks over the heads of our 3 angels. Then the movie started. Well, at once Emma did not like the fact that it got dark and she was sure to talk about at the top of her voice. Then Mary did not really care to look at the screen, but really wanted to get out of her seat. I tried to hold her in my lap. I tried to let her pace in front of the other seats. Nothing worked. What she REALLY wanted to do was run up and down the aisle. So after 1 1/2 hours of juggling Mary and trying to shush Emma, the movie was over at last. Zoe was perfect through the whole thing - she even cheered at the climax! My girls would have been better off at McDonald's play place. So, anyhow, when we were talking about the movie later, I asked Emma if she liked the monkey movie. She said, "No, mama. Zoe liked it. I didn't like it." Well at least I won't have to worry about spending just under $30 anytime soon to go take them to a movie.