We went to a movie yesterday. My daughter was not interested in The Secret Life of Pets and didn’t want to go. We thought it was mostly because she couldn’t see the screen and knew it wasn’t going to be fun for her so she was declining the invitation. After lunch with friends we did take her and I had hopes she would be able to listen to the movie, supplemented by me whispering what was happening visual-action-wise for parts she couldn’t see.
This plan did not pan out. We had a large group in a very small theater and our reclining seats took up one full row and portions of two other rows. My daughter spent the majority of the movie going back and forth between our two seats and dad’s seat, bring popcorn back and forth, getting a new view of the screen, sitting down but being fidgety and basically not watching the movie in any way. Fortunately, the elevation across the rows of seats made this something she could do without bothering anyone who was actually watching the movie.
About three-fourth’s the way through the movie she told me she had to go to the bathroom and I decided it was time to take her out of the theater for the remainder of the movie. She didn’t complain, she got in the car with me and we went to BJ’s two buildings down and mostly browsed until the movie was over.
I told my husband we weren’t going to try that again and he agreed. Then, tonight at dinner with Uncle Bob and Uncle Brian, the movie came up. Suddenly my daughter started talking about the movie. She explained about the characters, what had happened, how they went into the sewers and about the big brown dog who was bad. She didn’t know he turned into a good dog by the end of the movie because she didn’t get to the end.
Was she listening intently the whole time and keeping her body busy by moving around and doing other things? It certainly seemed like she understood what had been going on.
The Big Boy Update: My son was sitting at the dining room table working on a Lego model. It was fairly evident he needed some help a little later when he called out, “calling all dads, calling all dads”.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: We don’t really know what my daughter can see far away. Sure, a movie screen is big, but it’s also distant. Can she make out much or does she do better with things in close proximity? She doesn’t seem to particularly enjoy movies at a theater, but she loves watching them on her iPad at very close range.
Fitness Update: I ran ten miles today—I know, I’m shocked too. It was a nice run, although slower than even I usually run. It was humid and hot, even though we started at 5:45AM and I lost a lot of fluids. To run any further I’d need a water stop or two.
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