The last movie D and I watched before becoming parents was Avengers: Age of Ultron in October 2015. Our first movie experience…as parents.. with Keya was when she was 13 months old in January 2017. And the movie was Dangal. After reading reviews and news of Dangal breaking all box office records, we had decided to take the risk and watch it in a theater. So, we availed the offer of Buy 1 get 1 free on D’s ICICI card. Worst case scenario – only one ticket cost will be wasted in case we needed to leave the theater so as not to cause inconvenience to others.
Our movie watching was successful with Keya awake 80% of time and without disturbing others. At first she was sleeping so we thought she will sleep through but as soon as the ads before the movie started she woke up due to the loud sound. (Keya is such a light sleeper that I should write a separate post on it) Then she sat n watched the screen for some time. Then I kept her engaged in feeding. The places we mothers have to feed!! Then D took her out in intermission. After that we kept her engaged in eating. In last 45 minutes D walked around the entrance area with her in baby carrier while watching from there. After 15-20 mins she slept off and D could also watch nicely. So overall it was a success!!
Then Keya became a toddler and the risks of going to a movie theater increased. D’s cousin brother and his wife used to go for movies at night when their daughter was of Keya’s age and she used to sleep through the movie. But we didn’t want that because if she will sleep in a night show then after coming we will be sleepy and she wont be (anyway Keya is a night owl…most active evening onwards and definitely not a morning person). Movies came and went and our life went on. Amazon Prime, Netflix and Hotstar are life saviours!!
D and I are both Marvel fans and after marriage we have watched almost every movie in the franchisee at theater. So naturally Thor:Ragnarok was on my list. It was released on 3rd November but we couldn’t decide whether to give it a shot or not. Then reviews started pouring and people started raving about it. It was already running since a month when we decided to take the plunge.
Since the movie was going on since November, there are limited shows now. A nearby multiplex had only 9.30 am show. So D booked tickets for that show and got us sofa seats as they were at the same price. The night before the D-Day, Keya went to sleep wearing the dress she was going to wear the next day. We got up early morning on a Saturday!! Had breakfast and prepared her diaper bag with lots of different food options. While leaving I took her in baby carrier which woke her up. But she again dozed in-car. As soon as we arrived at the mall, she woke up. She was wide awake inside the theater and watched the movie till intermission while eating different things – bread with peanut butter,bit of omelette, two square pieces of dairy milk and one pack of Gems. 🙂 It was a blessing that they let us enter with so much food items.
In second half we put video on mobile which she watched while eating another half packet Gems and drinking Frooti. Then when last half hour of movie was remaining, she became restless as she was feeling sleepy (Keya is not a morning person). So I took her and fed her (which was super comfortable in sofa seat) and she slept right off. So again it was a successful attempt. It was helpful that Thor Ragnarok was a simple straight story and action movie and one didn’t miss much if one didn’t pay attention to some dialogues. And such was the impact of the movie that Keya remembered the Uncle with the hammer for few days. 😀 😀
So tell me, my reader, how was your movie experience with your kid?
My Random Thoughts 