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“Brit’s baby is Dante and Lulu’s,” said my wife’s email. The subject line read: I figured it out.
For those not in the know or the unaffiliated, Brit, Dante, and Lulu are characters from General Hospital. You know, “Just can’t cope without my soap, General Hospital.”
Now, I’d like to tell you I had no idea what my wife was talking about. However after a split second I knew just what my wife meant. And was surprised. I even emailed back – “Huh? How?”
December 31, 2003 – With just a few hours to go till the New Year, my 6 month pregnant wife and I have escaped the frigid Northeast temperatures and are in the tiny Metro Twin theatre on 99th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. The cramped seats require anyone over 5’2” and 120 pounds to curl into his/her seat like the last clown to get into the Volkswagen.
My wife — who was definitely showing at that point and peeing more often than a grandparent who has an extra cup of coffee before bed — was clearly above the comfortable height and weight level. She was actually on the edge of her seat throughout the movie. But not because of her size. She could not get enough of the movie – The Two Towers, part two of The Lord of the Rings saga. (She still brings up her herculean fete, “I stayed on the edge of my seat and didn’t pee once!!!”, when someone mentions LOTR) Out of concern for her (and the baby), I repeatedly gently tapped her to push her back into her seat. Nothing doing. While I also loved the movie, my favorite part was seeing how much she enjoyed the movie.
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This past Sunday my family and I went to the movies. A couple of weeks ago we watched Despicable Me. We all enjoyed it and knew right away that the sequel would be in our summer plans.
We found our seats in a half full theatre just before the movie began. Each of the boys took out their snack packs and settled in ready to be laugh.
Oh my G-d, did they laugh! BR, the fidgety type, was glued to his seat. He was so enthralled by the movie that he didn’t complain when I started dipping into his popcorn and drinking some of his soda.
SJ, on the other hand, could not sit still. Every time the Minions (for those who have not seen either of the movies but saw one of the billion commercials, the Minions are the little yellow guys) came on the screen, he was on the edge of his seat. His whole body shook as he cackled. He could not take his eyes off of the Minions.
I enjoyed the movie. It was funny and sweet plus those little yellow Minions guys really are amusing. However, the greatest part of the movie was watching my childrens’ reactions. During chunks of the movie, I found myself watching the boys. After all, what’s better than seeing your children happy?
Sooner than I realize, my children will grow up, and it will take much more to make them happy. When they do grow up, I hope there will be moments when I can see them look as happy as they did watching Despicable Me 2.
Oh yeah, one last thing. I have a hunch what the theme of SJ’s 7th birthday party will be – Minions.
What about you – when is the last time you saw your children very happy?