[blparent] bringing children to theaters

[Melissa Ann Riccobono]

Hello Erin,
I think this varies a bit with every child, and as always you know your own
child best.  Austin was almost 3 when he attended his first kid friendly
show at a theater.  It was Sesame Street Live, and he loved it, and was very
good throughout.  He was about 3.5 when he saw his next kid show, and had
just turned five when we took him to The Lion King around Christmas time.
He's also been to a couple of movies in the theater...  Cars Two, and Toy
Story 3.  Oh, and one of the Chipmonk movies.  The Chipmonk movie was his
first in a theater, and he was right around 3 when we took him.
	It certainly is fun to be able to have conversations about what is
going on in the movie or play, the parts Austin liked best, etc.  The Lion
King really stands out for me because he kept thanking my husband and me for
bringing him with us to watch the play.  It was one of those truly sweet and
completely sincere moments I don't think I'll ever forget.  It's so nice
when our kids appreciate the special things we do for them and tell us so.
	Just a couple more things that have just come to my mind...  First
of all, keep the length of the performance in mind.  Your son might be able
to handle watching something live much earlier if it's just a half hour or
45 minutes, rather than a full production with an intermission.  Second,
keep the time of day in mind.  We usually opted for the late afternoon
performances when Austin was still napping.  That way, we could have an
early lunch, hopefully at least some of a nap, and then he would be awake
for the performance.  A lot of kids shows seem to have performances around 1
or 2, and that was nap time for Austin...  I didn't want him to sleep
through a performance if we could help it.
Good luck, and have lots of fun.
Melissa

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Erin Rumer
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2012 1:24 PM
To: NFB blind parent listserv
Subject: [blparent] bringing children to theaters

Hello all,

 

My son Dawson is now 18 months and I'm amazed with how long he can keep his
focus on something he's enjoying, especially when Elmo's on the television.
GRIN  I know he's too young right now to bring to the movies or a play and
expect him to sit still and be quiet but I'd like to know from those of you
with older kids what age your children showed the maturity and readiness to
do these things?  I'm thinking that around 3 might be a good age because we
can have actual conversation about expected behavior and also talk about
what's going on in the play or movie should he have questions.

 

Thanks,

 

Erin

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