So, maybe in your family it’s not a huge ordeal to go to the movies, but over here we get a little frightened about big noises and unexpected things. It is not surprising then that a theatre with a sensational movie is not really our favorite place. We’ve actually never made it to one yet. We’ve seen the Imax films and have done okay because they are short, but the opening scenes are always too loud and there are sometimes tears and screams and it’s always tempting just to give up and stay movie-free forever. But that would not be a great life-skill. But we really want to see Planes, the new Disney movie and the guys and I are prepping for that day.
One of the ways we are dealing with this is by reading about the things that are scary. For example, the guys are also a wee bit scared of the dinosaurs at the Science Center, so when the book, Larry Gets Lost in Prehistoric Times showed up on our doorstep the day before we were going on a Science Center adventure, it was only too perfect.
The guys love Larry and his San Francisco adventure was a big hit in our household before our San Francisco trip, so we read this new book about a million times and talked about all the dinosaurs that Larry saw. Then we went to the Science Center and talked about how Larry imagined all the dinosaurs and how they’ve vanished a long time ago and we would only stand near the pretend ones that don’t eat meat. We were able to go the longest we’ve ever been in the dinosaur exhibit and it’s really powerful how much books affect little kids and what they think. The kids couldn’t stop talking about the dinosaurs when they got home.
Because that was successful, the guys actually suggested that we also pre-read the Planes book before we head to the movies next week.
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We’ve now read this book a few times and the guys understand the story so there will be no surprises. We’ve decided that this will be a family adventure and we are going to do it even though the guys are a little afraid. I’ve even purchased some Dusty toys so that we’ll have something to hold when we’re there. I’ll keep you updated as to if this technique works!
(PS. I received a complimentary copy of Larry Gets Lost in Prehistoric Times but the ideas here are my own.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
My 5 year old doesn’t love movies either, too loud and sometimes too scary. We usually bring headphones for him to wear to lessen the sound a little. He enjoyed Turbo so I think we may have had a breakthrough 🙂
I did exactly the same thing — got my 5-year-old the book before we went to see Planes. He made it through fine, and is excited to go see it again next week with friends. He wore earplugs to help with the noise too.
Earplugs are such a great idea! I forgot how noisy movie theatres are for kids.