The Ups and Downs of Pooh

Did that title catch your eye? By Pooh I mean, Winnie-the, not poo...the ups and downs of poo is an entirely different blog entry :)

Today we took the kids to their first movie theater movie. I've been waiting for just the right one and Winnie-the-Pooh seemed to fit my criteria. First, it had to be a movie I actually wanted to see (selfish little bugger, aren't I?). Second, and this is huge, I had to be 100% confident the material was appropriate for both my kiddos, a four year old and a two year old. My opinion is that the huge screen combined with the volume and the dark room (possibly filled with strangers) add a lot of impact that is unnecessary for young kids. So something a little scary, or a little coarse just gets kicked up too many notches for my comfort. But c'mon...what could be wrong with Pooh??? Well, nothing was wrong with Pooh, it was just that I took a two year old with me. Clearly something is wrong with me!!

Miss M loved it from the first pre-view on (make mental note, don't go early enough to watch the pre-views, they add a lot of time and scenes from movies I may not want them to watch). She sat beautifully, until the very end when she just couldn't resist joining her brothers antics. She laughed, she smiled and at the end she wept...yes, full on dramatic weeping because the red balloon, in her mind, got lost.

JB liked the short cartoon before the movie and about 5 minutes of the movie. Then he preferred to play with the seats--ALL of them--he went row to row to row. Thankfully there were only four other people in the theater and they were in the top row, two of them were young children and they appeared about as interested in the movie as JB. After we tried ALL the seats he got quite interested in the little lights along the floor. He thought they were fireflies I think, he wanted to catch them, then he wanted to step on EVERY one. Prince Charming ran out and got some pretzel bites at one point, that quieted JB down for about 10 minutes, than back up he went. He roamed the 'countryside', catching glimpses here and there of Pooh, or more often Tigger. I think Tigger and JB are like minded and he seemed drawn to the screen every time he appeared! They both like to bounce, they both get themselves in sticky situations, they both make up words, they both think they are the funniest thing ever and they are both extremely lovable!!

It was still a great morning, Miss M really loved it and Prince Charming and I got a kick out of the movie. It is certainly no blockbuster, but it's a sweet story filled with characters we love. They added just enough to keep adults from resorting to playing Words with Friends on their iphones.

I have the ticket stubs saved for the scrap books that I'm not making. I think the next one we go to will either be in about four years, or it will just be Miss M. JB isn't much of a sitter...but he's so lovable anyway :)