I was horrified to wake up this morning to the news about the Dark Knight Rises shooting in Denver. I grew up in Aurora and used to get my Hello Kitty fix at that same mall. But the most heartbreaking part of this story, to me, is that there were children at that theater.
Among the reports was this shocking detail: The youngest person injured was a 4-month-old baby. OMG! Thankfully it turns out that may have been a FALSE report. I'm hearing that the baby was not injured, just taken to the hospital, treated, and released.
Meanwhile someone on my Facebook stream said she was baffled as to why there would be a 4-month-old at a midnight movie. Are we really doing that already -- judging the parents who brought that baby?
It's not what I ever did, but it's pretty common. Parents sometimes bring their babies to the movies. If you happen to have a heavy sleeper (and your baby would have to be a really heavy sleeper to make it through a loud action movie like Dark Knight), it just makes sense to bring the baby with you and let her sleep rather than paying for a sitter. Hopefully if the baby wakes, you're considerate of the other audience members and you step outside the theater. But anyway, most 4-month-old babies are not exactly on the kind of bedtime schedule school-aged kids get on. Who cares what time they're up?
More from The Stir: Shooting at 'Dark Knight Rises' Midnight Premiere Kills At Least a Dozen People (VIDEO)
But worse than that, this is just an incredibly insensitive time to be wagging disapproving fingers at the parents of children who were in that theater. Apparently there were other kids there. And so what? When a parent weighs the risk of taking their kids to a midnight movie, they're not considering the possibility that there might be a shooter there! It's summer. School is not in session.
Parents of kids who were in the theater last night need our support and compassion right now. Not our judgment.
**Update on baby** Jamie Rohrs describes how he felt holding his baby, Ethan, as James Holmes opened fire on the audience.
Have you ever taken a baby to the movies late at night?
Image via Elizabeth/Table45/Flickr
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Comments 458
sure i agree that small childrena nd babies don't belong at a midnight showing but if the parents bought the tickets in advance and their sitter cancelled maybe they had no choice with taking it with them. like someone else said at 4 months some babies are very heavy sleepers and i know my youngest was so if they knew the sleep habits it was their decision. no one should blame them for what happened they need to blame the shooter who obviously needs to be locked away since when his own mother heard about the incident knew it was him right away
whatever, the baby was probably asleep or nursing - 3-month-olds don't care what time it is.
OMG we took our children everywhere we could. They grew up respectful, and knowing how to act in different situations. the focus should be on the shooter, not on the parents. some people have to complain about everything. give it up. It does not make them bad parents.
Ok my husband and I took our son to many movies at that age. They were not midnight showings, but we also had to get up for work. My son is now one and there is no way in the world we can take him to a movie at ANY time of the day without him wanting to run around and be loud and disturb other people. Now at the age of 4 months the baby just sleeps. Now if I saw someone bringing kids older than 1 to a midnight movie id be concerned because at that age they SHOULD have scheduled bed times since they are up all day. However, a 4 month old still sleeps most of the time. I think it is good for the parent to enjoy the good times while they can because pretty soon they wont be able to do things as normal as going to a movie without planning ahead and having a baby sitter. No reason to bash the parent at all, unless the child is a little older, and even then, why not save the opinions until later.