Kat and Banana and I went to the movies today. We met Junebug and LouLou for a girls' afternoon out and a serious chickflick. Not the one up there. No, that one has a story. We saw this one...
It was very girly and very cheesy but very cute. We enjoyed it. Kearsdad and Funandone would have hated it. That's why they weren't invited. But this isn't about that movie. It's about the other one...
Elmo in Gouchland premiered in 1999. Kat and JMatt turned 4 that year. Banana was 2 1/2, LouLou was 1. Junebug and I took all four of them to see Elmo. Everyone in those days loved Elmo. La la la la and all that. Kat had a room full of Elmos.
Now, if you have never seen Elmo in Grouchland, the premise of the movie is that Elmo's blanket (aka "blankie") gets tossed in the trashcan (remember Oscar the Grouch?) and winds up in Grouchland. Elmo must enter Grouchland in search of his blankie.
Well, at 2, Banana had a well worn blankie. Actually she had two, but at that time she didn't know it. I would sneak one away from her while she was sleeping and replace it with the clean one. But that's beside the point. She was seriously in love with that blankie. An affair that would last until, well...we won't go there (she'd be embarassed). Anyway...
Did I mention this was the first movie she or Lou Lou had ever been to?
So, about 5 minutes into the movie...maybe 10...it happened. The blankie got lost. That's when I realized that taking a 2 1/2 year old to a movie might have been a bad idea. The blankie disappeared into Grouchland, Elmo began to fret, and Banana began to WAIL. Loudly. I mean really loud. That sobbing, shreaking kind of wailing that eventually subsides into choked wimpers and hiccups. She cried the ENTIRE movie. I took her out several times. But she continued to cry...punctuated with wails of "I wan' my bankie!!!" The movie, according to reviews I just checked, lasted 73 minutes. 1 hour and 13 minutes. It was the longest hour and 13 minutes I have ever endured.
So, Banana's first trip to the movies almost scarred her for life. Almost. We didn't take her back to a movie for a VERY long time. Like maybe two years. Luckily she overcame the trauma and lived to enjoy a trip to the movies. I am glad, because otherwise we would have missed out on a lot of fun times as a family and with Junebug and Funandone and JMatt and LouLou. We've seen a lotta movies together. Including Enchanted.
11 comments:
Ha. Yeah, that's one that was totally unforgettable. I wonder if she could get through it even now!
There was also some issue with pictures that day. I'll have to go back and look to see who it was (sometimes they run together), but ONE of them refused to take a picture for the scrapbook. Hmmm.
And yeah. Enchanted was worth it. Next...National Treasure.
oh my gosh. we took mary peyton to her first movie this year when "shrek the third" was out. she loved it and sat through the whole stinkin' thing! we had been told that we were wasting our money - i think we got our money's worth!
poor banana.......i have friends my age who have things that they CANNOT sleep without!
Life doesn't get better than doing fun things that make fun memories with good friends!
Abby never did see that movie for that very reason. Then we lost blankie for life in a hotel in New Mexico. Oh the things we do. I am glad you have come a long way. :)
Shug???
Yeah, Beej and I had this discussion about how we didn't really know how to pronounce "SUG." Turns out Beej has been calling her "ShUG" this whole time. So we decided to change it. I guess.
Also, did you find the thing you were looking for??
Ahhhh....I get it. It was extra-confusing 'cause she's not signed in as "her".
And no, none to be found, and we decided it wasn't worth an all out search. It was a whim that we decided would probably end up being way more than we originally planned on spending. Oh well...
sorry for the confusion. It's still me
That is funny...Rivs first was Curious George....she loved it, except for the big boat and the intro stuff...too loud. Now everytime we pass the theater she recites the movies that she has seen there and asks when we are going again.
we love that movie! I have to hide it from Emily! LOL
Anchovie Swirl ice cream, anyone??
I am trying to remember the first movie they saw on the big screen. VeggieTales Jonah came out when Em (I think) was a baby. The boys sat thru it, I had to take Em out tho. fussy little thing..
Just commenting on this one again so I can say I commented on every one on this page. Seriously.
Also, I TRIED not to use the word also in any of my comments. I think I used seriously instead!
:-) Love you!
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