I have something to say and it’s not very nice at all. In fact, Kevin & I just walked in the door from seeing a movie and I came straight to the computer because I was having a full-blown rant the whole way home in the car and I’m still not done. Here it is: DO NOT TAKE CHILDREN TO THE THEATRE. (I do not usually type in all-caps nor in bold print. Take that as a clue to how worked up I am right now.)
I’m not talking about your 6-year-old who wants to see Up. I’m talking about your 18-month-old who has no interest in a PG-13 movie and only wants to scream and throw popcorn the entire one and a half hours. I was so angry that I was mentally looking through my purse trying to come up with something that I could throw at the parents.
The stupid mother kept taking the child out (after about 2+ minutes of screaming) to calm him down and then would bring him back in. About 10 minutes later, he tired of the popcorn throwing again and started screaming again. Then she’d take him out, bring him back in, take him out, bring him back in. It was so ridiculous. It was quite obvious that neither parents were getting anything out of the movie with their tantrum-throwing toddler and it was very obvious from our vantage point at nearly the back of the theatre that everyone else there was just as annoyed as we were. I’m sure they were all mentally looking through their purses/wallets as well for things to throw at them.
Who does that?!!? Who takes a toddler to a movie and ruins it for everyone else? Kevin & I were so mad. I pity the clean-up crew as well because there were 3 entire stair steps strewn with the remains of the popcorn that didn’t get swallowed. (Yes, the parents were in the top row of the theatre and let the child crawl over the seat in front of them as well as go on the stairs–anything to keep the kid happy apparently, which still didn’t work.)
The only thing throw-able in my purse was my water bottle and I remained tough enough to hang onto it, but there were several times that I felt my hand reaching for it. Their heads just looks so inviting for a good smack.
Oh, and the topper? The Rocky Theme song starts going off and we all knew immediately whose phone that could be… Sure enough, good ol’ toddler’s dad forgot to read the standard preview that says, “Please be courteous to other theatre patrons and turn off all cell phones.” By that point, Rocky was much better than the endless screaming. (Even when the mother took the child out, she really only went and stood by the door so we could all still hear the child whether she stayed right inside the door or, on occasion, took him on the other side of the thin pressed-wood.)
To parents out there: get a babysitter or wait and Red Box it. You’re ruining it for yourself and everyone else by dragging your kids along. Just don’t do it. Next time, you will not be lucky enough to miss my great aim and you’ll find yourself with a water bottle to the noggin.
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