My husband is coming home from a week of skiing with my best friend's family and some other good friends. The children and I have held down things here, the children have gone to school, and I've gotten mom-type things done while he's been away. Tonight, instead of our typical movie night of friends and their families, it was just the three of us, and, for once in a great while, we decided to watch a movie.
This has been something we gave up four years ago when my daughter lost her vision. Watching a movie isn't any fun when you can't see what's happening. It was a long while before my daughter was interested in listening to a film, ideally with assistive audio. Now that she's interested in movies again, we can start to do that which many families enjoy: the family movie evening.
My son prefers the audio track off, and if I'm being completely honest, so do I. You're presented with dialog or description at all times, which gives you a full movie of listening—and that's more taxing than you might realize until you've done it. It turns out to be a good thing if you're busy doing other things like folding laundry, making dinner, cleaning up, putting a puzzle together, brushing the dog—you name it—that would take your eyes off the screen. But if you're in the habit of actually watching a movie from start to finish (which I typically am not), then it's a bit overkill to a sighted person.
Tonight was Frozen II night at the house, and after some coordination getting them both in the living room at the same time, we did indeed watch the movie. There was only one scuffle/argument/fight that ended in me yelling at them, removing the toys they were fighting over that had been launched into the air and into the blinds. There was a second event where my son got in trouble for standing on the sofa, pulling up those same blinds, and brandishing his loud lightsaber in the darkened window. My daughter wailed about the toy I'd taken, saying she'd broken a promise to the anthropomorphized rubber tube, saying she had pledged to be friends and never leave each other's side—forever—and that it was all my fault. In short, it was a typical night with an eight- and nine-year-old.
That was only a small portion of the time, and the movie was for the remainder of the time a very nice time together. It was late when the movie ended, and, surprisingly, my daughter was still awake. My son and I congratulated her on being awake since she'd been falling asleep really early over the past several months. Perhaps she'll even sleep late in the morning.
The Big Boy Update: My son requested the higher of two doses of Adderall we were testing out with his teacher. He's a little hyper-focused on the larger dose, but she's and we are glad he's attuned to what he needs to be able to focus and do his work. Outside of school, he insists he doesn't want to take it. He knows what he needs.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter's cab driver keeps the vehicle very, very hot. She's eight-months pregnant, and I can't imagine how she's not roasting herself from remembering what it was like being pregnant myself. When I got my daughter out of the cab this evening, she commented, "I'm glad you're here, I was melting."
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