Angela and I escaped tonight to go see The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, marking the first time either of us have gone to a movie theater since I saw Sin City right before Xan was born. (Quickie review: I liked it a lot, laughed quite a bit. I've forgotten the books enough that I found the movie zany fun. The cast was inspired, with Mos Def particularly good as Ford Perfect and Alan Rickman and Helen Mirren deliciously cast as the respective voices of Marvin the uber-depressed robot and the super computer Deep Thought. I found the slightly non-sensical narrative structure to be right in line with the ludicrous nature of the story itself, and am now wondering what all the reviewers are bellyaching about. The movie opens with a musical number sung by dolphins, for Zaphod's sake!!)
You've probably figured out that this also means... we left Xan at home (!!!!).
Prompted by my mother-in-law's visit as she and Greg return via RV back to the Cape, we were all but forced out of our house to prove that yes, he will survive without us. And we will survive an evening out, just the two of us, without him. And he will still love us. And indeed, we happily watched the movie without having to call home, even stopping in Borders afterwards, just to browse. (Note to Borders: your non-functioning listening stations are why I'm going to buy the new NIN and New Order CDs from Amazon. Pthth.) And we had fun! Hooray! A revelation, indeed. On the ride back home (in the dark, which meant we couldn't even see the car seat base in the back seat of the car), Angela asked, "Do you feel like a parent?" "Right this second?" I asked. "Yes, with this night out," she replied. "Oddly enough," I laughed, "not really. Maybe because we enjoyed this without freaking out for a few hours and we were back to being ourselves." We both don't love him any less (we came home and were thrilled once in the door to take him back and he's in my lap, peaceful, as I type this), but it was cool to get out and remember we're still us.
Besides, we also found out that this week's Reel Mom showing at the Majestic in Silver Spring will be Kung Fu Hustle. Why not start him early on an appreciation of Hong Kong cinema? *grin* (A question to Nell: what do you make of these so-called "crybaby" screenings"?)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Hey, Jeff! I tried it just once -- took my then three-month-old to..."Risky Business!" He slept through much of it, but I was embarrassed nonetheless. I think it's great to give new Moms (and Dads) a chance to see a movie but I think it's better for all concerned if instead parents swap sitting so that the couples can have some quality time together and enjoy movies without crying babies and the babies can have quality time in the sunshine with parents who give them their full attention.
Post a Comment