Date nights are a precious thing once you have kids. Ask any parent. It's not just about having the energy to do it. A lot of planning is involved. If you both have busy careers, it's about coordinating schedules and -- more importantly -- booking that babysitter well in advance.
My husband and I were long overdue for some one-on-one time. So I was super excited that I was able to get a sitter for both Friday and Saturday nights. We didn't have anything crazy planned. We were looking forward to checking out two hot, new restaurants and catching a couple flicks that everyone else but us had seen.
Both nights, the food was fantastic. The wine was great. The movies, well, not so much. And it wasn't because of the actors, directors, or storylines. Nope, our rare double-header was ruined by kids -- somebody else's kids.
At both movies (Hunger Games the first night, The Avengers the next) there were babies and toddlers in the theater. Crying babies and singing toddlers to be exact. Everyone was beyond annoyed.
More from The Stir: A Movie Theater Is No Place for a Baby
It's not like we were watching a Disney film or some other animated flick you'd expect a whole family to attend. No, these were violent, action packed scenes. But to be honest, the inappropriate subject matter is not what I take issue with. (I remember being horrified when I saw a dad come into a screening of Precious with three kids under 10 and these movies were nowhere near as sexually explicit).
I have a problem with the fact that some parents don't care if they ruin the film for everybody else. There was crying, whining, and at some point I swear I heard a verse if a Barney song. I kept trying to will them to get up and leave. They didn't.
Now as a parent I sympathize with the desperate need to get out of the house and engage in some kind of activity that has nothing to do with Play-Doh or The Fresh Beat Band. And babysitters are expensive. But is it fair to spoil the film for other patrons?
When I can't find a sitter (which is often), I stay at home and rent a movie from cable or Netflix. Why can't everyone offer the same consideration? At the very least, they should exit when the wailing starts. These parents threw out a couple of "shhhs" but otherwise seemed relatively unconcerned, just staring at the screen as if it wasn't bothersome.
I've read message boards where parents have discussed the best time to take their tot to a movie, trying to sync it up with the sleeping schedule. But come on. Does that ever really work? What baby is going to stay asleep while the Hulk screams and pounds his way through a two-hour film?
Should parents bring babies into movies that are not for children? Is it rude to other moviegoers?
Image via Max Wolfe/Flickr
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Comments 96
I think it's fine to bring them- provided you are prepared to take them out if they are fussy. I seldom get to the movies at all, but when I do I am far more irked by people's cell phones than I am by babies/children!
This article made me sad. Listen, I am not going to haul my baby to a sitter just bc you don't want to be bothered. I paid just like you did. Also, humans make sounds. It's completely normal.
I have been at the movies and there are so many different people. You got the gum chewer, the one wear the guys laughs too loudly. The one where a kid wants to go to the bathroom every five minutes. The one where someone gets hungry, thirsty and asks for a refill or for a slurpee or nachos. You got the teenagers who giggle at everything. Also, the guy who won't silence his phone, so mid movie sneaks out while loudly saying, "Hold on a second, I am at the movies." Then there is the yucky belch-er. I am sure all of you have been through one of the above experiences.
If all these people can make sounds, why shouldn't my baby be allowed an ooh or ahh? Now, not full blown out screaming or crying, but a little sound should be tolerated, since we tolerate it for adults. Also, adults understand to not make noise, yet they do. Kids don't.
look some kids just cant sit through a movie but some can i have 2 kids and my oldest son i used to bring to the movies all the time when he was a baby and toddler he was very good and quiet he either slept or sat on my lap and drank a bottle as a baby and as a toddler he sat and watched the movie ate popcorn and drank his sippy cup but my second child is more active and i would never take him to a movie so those who have active kids no dont take them but if the kid can handle a movie then there is nothing wrong with them going
I agree totally. I want kids to be exposed to these situations, but a late night R rated movie is not the place. I am all for there being places kids can't go for that reason. I don't take my 2 yo to fancy restaurants because she just isn't ready. We go to places (movies included) that are geared for the family. I am more than happy to watch a kid flick with a theater of kids of any age, but don't ruin my date night with your kids!
Theaters do not really care about movie ratings, and should not let very young kids go in to see adult movies, they do watch!!!! Babies will mostly sleep, but toddlers are harder to control, they might hate the dark, or be amazed by it and get rowdy, not really their fault. We, as parents, are responsible.
This is a touchy subject, as parents do deserve and must to go out alone, but other parents can not, or might have just that one day when the babysitter bailed out on them at the last minute.
You know what is kind of sad? In the "old days" we had drive-in movies. Parents could take the kids to movies. If a baby cried or was fussy, they could roll the windows up. As kids we loved it! The parents got to see a movie for less than a theatre and everyone had fun. Those days are gone! So, now parents not only have to foot the expense for the in-door theatre movie, but babysitters too! Sadly, I think what really stopped the drive-in movie theatres is too many bad people around now. You'd probably be robbed at gunpoint in your car now.
Agree better not to have them at the theatre, but wow, it was more fun in the old days!
I expect young children at a kids movie, but no way should they be allowed into adult age movies. When I go on a movie date with my girlfriends or husband, I do not plan on getting away from my kids to have put up with someone else's kids in a movie.