never ever

Growing up I used to babysit a lot. And I mean A LOT. I had at least 7 kids who knew that if they saw me at the door they were in for a fun night without the parents. I was the cool sitter - laid back, easy going and the only rules I strictly enforced had to do with safety. No running with sharp objects. No jumping off the couch onto your little sister's head. No sticking forks in the outlets. You know, the basics. I knew that when I became a parent I wanted to have the same devil may care attitude. And yet, I knew there were going to be some rules I'd follow without question. Rule #1 would be Remain Adaptable. Babies don't have schedules. You can't always be punctual when dealing with an infant. So Rule #1 is the most important. Rule #3 is Never Wake a Sleeping Baby. Unless there's a house fire or natural disaster, I don't see any reason to wake a baby who is already asleep. Madness I tell you! Just enjoy the time they're asleep because it won't last. Rule #2, in my mind, is almost as important as Rule #1. So much so that it might as well be called Rule #1.1. It's the one I have the most prejudice about when I see other parents breaking it. I think mean and hateful thoughts in the general direction of these rule-breaking so-called parents. I have even been known to express this opinion loudly to said parents.

And Friday I broke Rule #2. Yes, I took a baby to the movies.

In the past I have been in many, many movies where a child of any age does not belong and yet some oblivious parent decided to save a few bucks on a sitter and take them to the theater anyway. Oh the madness! There's crying and whining and questions on end. And that's just on my part. I swore that I would never EVER take my child to the movies until they were old enough to watch it. Instead, at 11 weeks old, Penny saw her first movie - Avatar. Yes, now you may understand why I did it. The story line was so-so but the cinematography was stunning. Especially in IMAX 3D.

And my child made a fool out of me. I was prepared beforehand to spend the three hours sitting in the lobby while Jason finished the movie. I was willing and ready to do so if necessary. Half way through I realized this was definitely our child. She's already a movie buff. She sat on my lap, watching the screen for about 2 hours. The rest of the time she slept. She only fussed when I was stupid enough to try and shift her and she couldn't see the screen. So there we sat, her entranced, me eating Red Vines, while we walked through a virtual outer space forest. She was so good I would even consider taking her again.

I guess I should have just remembered Rule #1. All that's left to say is some kind of stupid cliche about rules and breaking...