Mommy Date Day!

The bad thing about yesterday was that the only time I could get an optometrist appointment was smack-dab in the middle of the day; both too early and too late to make going in to work feasible.

That was the only bad thing about yesterday.

Winter took the day off, and the temperature shot up to almost 70 degrees (when it's spent the rest of the weeks in the 40s). Unseasonably warm temperatures makes for a happy day off.

So I got my eye appointment done, got some very cute new glasses. (I was told they make me look like Lisa Loeb, which I've decided is a good thing.) And, if Mommy is off work, there's no sense in baby boy spending a full day at preschool, now is there?

I timed it to get there right after he was finishing up his snack, and man, if toddlers aren't better than puppies for making you feel like they've been missing you all day. I love the way he practically cheers "Mommy!" when he sees me. We had plans to go the playground later in the afternoon (it showered a bit in the morning and everything needed a chance to dry off), so we had a couple of hours to kill. I thought it would be fun to take my little man to the cinema to see a kids' movie.

Unfortunately, there were only three movies playing that were PG or G. The first was "Yogi Bear", which frankly, just looks awful, and which I would only sit through if my son really wanted to see it. The second was the new Chronicles of Narnia movie, which I was worried would be too scary for him (PG rating or not) and knew would be too boring for me. That left "Gulliver's Travels".

Now, it's been a while since the mini-man has gone to a movie, and the last time we went was for "Despicable Me", and was prior to his fully gaining ambulatory ability. I had very real concerns that he wouldn't be content to sit still through a movie, so I thought a relatively-empty matinee would make for a good trial.

Everything seemed fine when we got there. I bought our ticket (no charge for kids under 3), and we walked into the lobby. At first he was overwhelmed just looking around at all the decorations and the bright lights of the massive, domed ceiling. To focus him, I gave him the ticket to hold onto, and showed him who the ticket-taker was, for him to go give it to him.

It has become common for many theaters to have one ticket-taker at the front of the lobby, as opposed to multiple attendants at the theater entrances. Since this is a job that allows the attendant to be stationary, the person employed in this position is often handicapped to some degree. Such was the case at this theater, as well.

Which obviously doesn't bother me, but as I've mentioned before, my son thinks wheelchairs are awesome. I had a really hard time pulling him away from the ticket-taker, because my son just kept trying to high-five him and jabber at him. Even as we were walking away he kept having to turn around to wave and call "bye-bye". Then he kept trying to flirt and make friends in the concession line. (The ladies behind us asked how old he was, and seemed surprised at how well-behaved he was, and how well he got around. Big compliment to Mommy.) He also tried to follow a family with three kids into another movie. The previews had already started by the time we got in the theater.

Not that we bothered anyone with our entrance, because we were the only ones in the whole theater. Which was awesome. I didn't have to worry about walking out if my kid fussed or made a scene. No one was there to bother! Since no other adults were with me to complain, I snagged a couple of spots in the front row.

At first, he seemed a little bothered by how dark the theater was, and how loud the sound was. Normally he likes to sit in a chair by himself like a big kid, but this time he wanted to be held in my lap. (Which was fine by me, I got to smell sweet baby hair-smell for two hours.) After a couple of minutes, he settled down and started looking around.

"Light" is one of the words he knows and can say pretty well. He started pointing around all over the theater. "Light!" at the exit sign. (Yes baby, "light".) "Light!" at the running lights leading up the aisles. (Yeah, that's a light too.) "Light!" at the screen. ("Light" honey, okay, got it.) "Light!" at the projection room. (He was really fascinated by the projection room, and turned around frequently to glance at it.)

He really got a kick out of the previews, too. He liked the music they played, and clapped when each one was over. (Kids that young don't understand the concept of advertisements, so I guess he thought he was just watching some really short movies?) They did have a real short before the movie, one of the "Ice Age" ones with the little prehistoric squirrel trying to hide an acorn. (Mommy thought it was funny, but he seemed really bothered at how distressed the squirrel was getting, which I suppose makes sense for an 18-month-old who can't distinguish fantasy from reality.)

Then the actual movie started. I was expecting a Jack Black-cheesefest (which, of course, it was to an extent), but it was a lot better than I would have predicted. I was impressed by the supporting cast (my crush on Jason Segel is well-documented), and my son was amused by all the little people and shouting and general silliness going on. What really cracked me up was, every time a rock song came on, he scrambled out of my lap to get on the floor and dance. Compound this by the fact that Jack Black movies frequently feature him dancing silly to rock songs, and you get a toddler dancing silly to Jack Black (who's kind of shaped like a toddler) dancing silly. It was pretty funny to see.

That, and my son kept clapping and cheering whenever the Lilliputians did (which is a lot, since they think Gulliver is a king and a hero). Overall, we both really enjoyed our experience. When the movie was over, he didn't want to follow me out of the theater. He kept signing "more", and trying to walk back to our seats. I felt bad to make him leave, but I knew he'd be happy once we got to the playground.

By this time, Daddy was off from work, so he was able to meet us. We had a really big time chasing each other around, and climbing on stuff, and going down slides. (The baby had fun, too.)

When we got home and sat down for dinner, the little man was already rubbing both his eyes. We got him his "baby" (seahorse) and "Mao" (stuffed black cat), and he started signing "sleep". We tucked him in, and he slept the rest of the night.

I know I say I could never be a SAHM, but if every day could be like yesterday, I just might change my mind.