To the Cinema We Go!

It was a day I'd been looking forward to for a long time -- the day I would step into the quiet, darkened halls of the movie theatre, with both my kids to boot.

I think I can count on one hand the number of movies I've watched at the cinemas since Noey was born. DD and I celebrated each occasion like a victory.

You might know that Noey hardly watched any TV before he turned two. It was something I was quite glad about but honestly, it wasn't that I didn't want him to watch any TV at all. I think when he was about one we popped in a DVD of Bolt, that animated film about a superhero dog because we wanted to watch it and figured he might be interested as well. Bad call. There is an exciting sequence at the start and Noey totally freaked out and made us turn it off. After that we could never convince him to watch another movie. I think DD once managed to get him to watch Finding Nemo because the boy just loves ocean creatures, but there was a chase sequence involving a shark in the beginning and Noey freaked out again and we've never gotten past that scene!

He's since discovered the wonders of TV but no movies for him, thank you very much. 

So when I heard about Golden Village's Mums & Babies screenings, I got very excited. Here was my chance to catch a movie! I figured I could sell the kids the novelty of the cinema and the copious amount of popcorn to be had. And since the screenings come with big warning labels that they would be held in a conducive environment where crying babies and running toddlers are to be expected, no one should be too bothered if they fussed. The best part was that each ticket costs only $6 so if they freaked out and insisted on leaving, it wouldn't hurt my pocket too much. 

That was how we ended up going to GV City Square Mall to catch The Croods.

The verdict? A big thumbs up from everyone! (I'm sure the popcorn helped.)

I was a bit surprised and slightly alarmed at the start when they turned down all the lights when the show started. I had heard from friends who had attended previous Mums & Babies screenings that some of the lights would be left on, but this was not the case, I think it would have helped the little tots in the audience, some of whom started crying when it went dark. My two cuddled up closer to me but thankfully, neither of them panicked. And when the show started, I could let the movie magic take over. Until that day, I had yet to watch The Croods and I really enjoyed it. It was a heart-warming tale of what it means to be a family and learning how and when to let go of your children which was particularly relevant for me that was, at the same time, light-hearted and funny enough for the kids. Both kids enjoyed the show and Meips even sat in her own seat for about half the show before she made her way onto my lap. That was quite a bonus for me.

We had such a good experience that I'm going to do it again and take them to catch Turbo soon! Noey was very intrigued by the trailer before the movie and since he's shown himself to be able to handle himself in a cinema, I think it's going to be a treat for him and I.

* The kids' trip to the movies was at the invitation of GV to the Mums and Babies screening of The Croods, but all opinions are authentically my own.