The Stars and Strollers Experience

Today I finally decided to try out "Stars and Strollers". It is a programme whereby parents can attend movies with baby in tow. The lights are dimmed, the sound is lowered, and "appropriate" movies are shown (by appropriate, I mean, not too noisy, loud, or interesting). The reason I waited so long to investigate, is because in general, the movie offerings are so poor that it didn't seem worthwhile. But today they were playing the DaVinci Code, so I gave it a whirl. The showings are always on Thursday afternoons at 1PM. This suits me just fine - hottest part of the day, and I'm in A/C comfort. Also, the cinema is dead (beyond the baby-toting mamas - and one or two dads), and the prices are matinee rate. The staff are courteous and helpful! (I have never had this occur at the theatre before!). A diaper change area is set up just outside the theatre. It is big enough for multiple babies, and provides hand sanitizer, wipes and diapers in a wide variety of sizes. There is also a stroller parking zone (they can't be left in the aisles because it constitutes a fire hazard). Some Moms seemed upset about that because they planned on letting their babies sleep in the strollers. Rebecca was very interested in all the babies around her. In fact, it was such a big distraction, that I had a very hard time getting her to eat or sit still. In the middle of the film, she managed to sleep, but there were a few occasions where I had to walk her out, or over to the side. That's o.k. because at any given moment during the movie, there were babies on the floor, on the side, at the change area, sleeping, feeding or bawling. When Rebecca cried, no one turned to give us the stare (the stare that people without babies all aim at you when your baby makes a peep in a public place). I think that this particular choice of film was not the best initiation for Becca. At 2.5 hours, the movie was too long for her to endure. So as far as a return to stars and strollers is concerned, I will have to investigate the selections a little more closely before making a decision.