With two teenagers who know everything and two adults who are so not cool anymore, finding a family outing where we can all have fun is sometimes a miracle.
Movies are the perfect example: one of my daughters likes all fantasy movies and age appropriate “chick flicks,” and adventure movies. The other daughter likes what she refers to as “big boom” movies, which, she’s informed me, are really “epic” fantasy movies like “Avatar,” but not necessarily “Guardians of Ga’hoole,” and adventure movies. Dad really likes action packed movies like “Terminator,” adventure movies, and any movie with street rods in it like “American Graffiti” to name some old ones. He’s not really into the fantasy movies, but will occasionally go to one to see what the hype is about. He says he likes “chick flicks,” but I suspect he only likes them because those are the kind of movies I like.
In addition to “chick flicks,” I like some of the fantasy movies like “Avatar” and the “Harry Potter” movies, but absolutely nothing with random acts of violence or screaming. I will occasionally see an adventure movie, like “Indiana Jones,” but I am up out of my seat and going to the bathroom when there is high tension. I don’t like movies that increase my tension; I create enough of my own.
Pixar movies we always agree on.
For about three years now, we’ve often sent the kids into one movie while we go into a different one. Not exactly family bonding, but at least it’s a moment when everyone is happy. On the rare occasion when the three of us girls are out of town, Dad will go alone to movies I won’t see with him.
Many a time we can’t agree on a movie or we can’t agree on two movies where the show times match up or we can’t get two people to agree to one movie and two to agree to a second movie, because I don’t want either of the girls to go into a movie alone. Then the whole thing is canceled. I’m ashamed to report those are the days I go to my room and pout about what a lame family I have that can’t just do what I want them to do.
When my daughters started to grow up, it really messed up our family’s movie viewing. When they were little, they didn’t have opinions, they were excited about everything and they didn’t question what they were about to see. I didn’t realize for years my youngest daughter tolerated movies just for the popcorn and the candy. I figured it out when she was about five and we saw “Piglet’s Big Movie.” She was at the edge of her seat holding the seat in front of her by the end of the movie. As the credits rolled, she exclaimed, “That movie was better than the treats!”
Then there were the “tween” years when I started introducing my daughters to movies that weren’t animated. There were a couple years when many of the movies that came out were based on children’s books. We would read the book and then go see the movie, then compare the movie to the book. It was a good bonding experience for us and further established their love of reading. Comparing movies made my youngest determined to read all the Harry Potter books after she had seen the movies; she had been too young too read them when they first came out.
I miss when the girls were little and the decision about what movie to see was so much easier. But I have to admit, now that they are teenage girls and their adolescent hormones often make them intolerant of their father’s testosterone-induced, badly timed jokes, it’s heartwarming to see them watching a movie with Dad. Their tastes have grown up along with them and their dad doesn’t get in trouble anymore when he plays movies like the “Terminator.” I, of course, won’t watch, but the girls love these action packed, fantasy types of movies. Obviously, in these cases, they are their father’s daughters, not mine.
Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom and writer committed to writing about the humor amidst the chaos of a family. You can read her daily blog or reach her at her <a href="http://www.livingwithgleigh.com/" title="
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Finding a family movie is a treat | Living with Gleigh
