Movies are a big deal in our family. On all sides of our family. For Chris, his dad is pretty much constantly seeing everything that ever comes out in theaters. Which is great because he lives in LA, so he can literally see anything. One year he saw 400+ movies in the theater. Yes, you read that right. Over 400. Chris’s maternal grandfather was a film historian. He wrote several books on movies and his film music reference book is pretty much considered the best there is. When he passed away years ago the Academy came and took some of his personal notes for their library.

My parents are movie nuts as well. Though they haven’t written books, my mom is a feverish movie theater attendee and my dad rents just about anything. We always have great debates about movie tastes, what’s great that’s out and what each other has to see.

Chris and I love movies as well. Chris used to have a goal of seeing 300 movies a year. And I had a goal of seeing 100 movies in the theater every year. Neither of those is a goal now, because…ummm… KIDS. Lol. We still do love movies and family comes for night time monitor listening so that we can get to the movies for dates from time to time (hooray!)

So, like I said, movies are important to us.

There was a debate for a little while about what would be the first movie to have Zoe watch. She loved Seinfeld, and particularly liked a character named Mickey (a little person if you’re not familiar.) Chris brilliantly thought of having her watch Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at about 20 months (the original, DUH. None of that Johnny Depp shit over here). She LOVED it. So we sprinkled in some others. She’s got about 6-10 in the rotation that she loves.

My mom watches Zoe once a week. And naturally as a movie lover she was curious when we’d take Zoe to the theater. I knew she’d love that experience with her, but my mom told me that of course she wanted Chris and I to take her first. But that got us thinking: was Zoe ready for a movie in the theater? And what would it BE!? As movie buffs we obviously would prefer for it to be kind of special – not the latest Pixar or Disney (though many are great.)

 One night I was fiddling around on my phone and some how – I have no idea, it must have been fate – saw that the Disney Museum in San Francisco just HAPPENED to be screening Mary Poppins for the month of January. I have never been to this museum, nor was I aware they screen a classic movie each month (I’m telling you, it was fate.)

Why was it fate? Well, Zoe fucking LOVES Mary Poppins. Loves to sing. Loves to dance. Loves to talk about the characters. She loves it so much we had gotten her a Mary Poppins shirt for Christmas.

And want to know what’s even cooler? In planning our trip to see it (family watching of Miss Merritt was necessary) we found out it was the first movie that BOTH my mom and Chris’s mom saw in the theater as well. Total fucking fate.

 We were both a little nervous. From time to time Zoe will skip a nap (fucks around her room for the whole time instead of sleeping). Movie time would involve no nap (god PLEASE don’t have a meltdown.) She’d never been to a movie, would the atmosphere make her nervous? (sometimes she doesn’t like the dark). I was also nervous about her needing to be quiet. Obviously not SILENT as this was certainly a family friendly environment, but I didn’t want her to be super loud. And lastly, the movie is LONG for a kid to sit through in one sitting (2 hours and 20 minutes). We resolved that we would try it, and if it didn’t work out, we would just leave. No worries at all.

So that’s just what we did yesterday, bah!!!!

 We told Zoe over the course of the week what we were going to be doing. We explained that it was special and a really exciting thing to get to do. She definitely started to look forward to it and would ask me periodically when we were going to go to see it. I was definitely getting excited 🙂

Midday Sunday came around and Chris’s mom came over to watch Merritt. We drove out to the city, made a pit stop for lunch and then arrived at the museum. We walked around for a bit (it definitely made me want to come back again when we had more time). Our plans were almost dashed when we nearly didn’t get in – GASP. I bought general tickets earlier at home online and knew that movie tickets were comped in that price. But apparently you needed to tell the person at the counter when you first arrived that you needed your special ticket to get into the theater as well (even though by buying a ticket to get into the museum you were buying a movie ticket as well). So when we walked to the theater with our general museum tickets in hand, she turned us away and said we needed special tickets. And they still had only A FEW left. Gahhhh! By the time we got back to the front of the museum and waited in line they were sold out. Cryyyyyy. I didn’t freak out yet, but the guy helping us I think sensed my disappointment and desperation (and the Mary Poppins shirt Zoe was wearing). He personally took us down to the theater and explained that sometimes people get their comp ticket when they arrive at the museum, but then don’t go see it, so there’s still room in the theater. Just our luck… THERE WAS ROOM! Hooray!

 We got out our snacks and settled in.

I wasn’t expecting it, but the SECOND the first musical note of the beginning credits hit, I started crying. It was a moment I’ll remember forever: getting to share something so special to all of our family with her. And something that she likes so much too.

Zoe was mesmerized. She loved it. She pretended to pick up a drum that was just for her during Supercalifragilisticexpealidiscious and played along with the music. She was pretty good about whispering, but there were some very loud questions from time to time. She loved getting to have a tasty treat. She remarked several times how cool the “BIG TV” was.

 She had one freak out a little more than halfway through. I took her outside and we talked and calmed down (she did not take well to being told she couldn’t crawl on the floor). And she was great again. She danced wildly during “step in TIME!”

The experience was magical. I loved seeing her get excited. The funny parts were even funnier. The happy parts were even happier. And a group of people even sang, “Let’s go fly a kite” at the end.

It made me remember the “magic of the movies.” There is something so special about movies, and especially about GOING to the movies. Time stops. You don’t know what’s going on anywhere else but in that dark room with that bright screen and that great story. And there are so many others strangers there, sharing this moment with you. You’ll share tears, laughter, smiles, laughter, frustration. You will always have that moment in time.