Craving theater popcorn and no sign of a babysitter in site, I decided that the best way to satisfy the urge was to head out on Sunday morning for a mantinee with the kids.  Chicken Little had just opened and while I knew it would be busy, I also knew that an 11:45 show on Sunday would totally not be - what with god squad in church till at least noon. The best part was I told the kids we would go on Saturday with the only condition being good listening and no smart mouth attitude for the rest of the day and all day sunday.  Oh what a great bribe, I got lots of yes mom's and ok, mom, no problem, I'll clean up my room.  I should totally bribe these kids more often was all I kept thinking.  One little waah, and I would shoot the evil eye and say in my most ominous voice - guess you don't want to go to the movie.  Ohhhh,  I"m sorry, I'll do it. 

 

Sunday morning, all is well and they kids are so excited to the movies.  This is a rare occurance for us because while I LOVE the movies, I haven't really enjoyed it with my youngest because up until recently she'd only sit for about the first 30 minutes and then the rest of the time we would whisper yell sit, down! get over here! stop throwing popcorn!  So we hold out for DVD and I'm not tortured with chasing a little girl screaming through a theater.  But it'd been about eight months, she was sitting down through most of a movie at home now, so I was ready for the challenge.

 

Got there in plenty of time to get tickets - four people, mantinee $25 bucks.  Now I know I don't get out much, but I was a little surprised that the mantinee on a freaking sunday morning was still over four dollars.  Yes, I still think movies should cost the same as when I was eighteen, but really, this was not downtown DC, I was in a relatively new theater in the god damn country and still it was almost seven freaking dollars.  Ok, no worries, but totally feeling justified for just holding out for the $17 dvds that I normally buy.  Head up to the concession stand and immediatly have to tighten the waste on my patience pants.  I mean, is it just me or do the dumbest people in the world work at the concession stand???? How fucking hard is it to get the prebagged popcorn and a couple of drinks?  I'm not asking you to even pop it, I'm not asking you to explain the molecular science behind why the kernels pop.  I'm simply asking you to grab the bag, fill up some sodas and hand them to me in a reasonable time frame so I am sitting down before the theater gets dark.  For some reason these guys don't even qualify to work at McDonal*s instead they end up at the theater.  And I hate them.  Still, two kids packs, a bucket for hubby and I, and two drinks later and we're out another 25 bucks.

 

At that moment it hit me, holy shit, I just paid fifty bucks for god damn chicken little.  These kids better sit down and enjoy all eighty one minutes which equates to sixty two cents a minute of this disney entertainment or else I'm going to be a might pissed by the end of the show.  Once i took my first bite of my super-buttered lightly salted theater popcorn, I calmed down a little, it was fresh and still warm and as the butter made my face feel all good and greasy, the costs felt a little better, but still, fifty bucks - for a mantinee.  No Jarhead and hot date for honey and I.  No shots of tequilla and tacos, no beers with friends, this fifty bucks was for a kids cartoon that wasn't supposed to be that great.

 

We survived most of the movie with only two trips to the bathroom and one request for more food to which i promptly replied, unless you're paying for it little boy, you'll need to wait until we get home for lunch.(god I hate when I act like my mother)  The premise was ok, but the kids didn't care, they loved it.  The funniest part for me is that my daughter's favorite part was the ending.  She loves singing and dancing so as the credits rolled she was up out of her chair getting her grove on.  Hubby got up to leave and I barked at him - for fifty bucks, we're watching this bitch until the screen goes black and the lights come on. 

 

As we walked to the car, the kids gushed all over me, thanks mom, we loved it, can we go to the movies again, that was so totally great. I guess it was worth it, I love the theater experience too and totally can relate to why its such a fun time, because we dont' do it that often, it's even more special when we go.  I'll try to get them out, fifty bucks and all a few more times before # 3 shows up,  heck by the time that kid gets to be old enough, I'll need a small equity loan to take the whole family out.