Movie Theater Innovations
Because my 6 year old daughter was so astonishingly cooperative and well behaved at her older sister’s gymnastics meet, I let her be in charge for the rest of the weekend. The first thing on her agenda was to see “Frozen“. I haven’t been to the movies in a while so I was confused when the ticket purchaser thing prompted me to select my seats but oh boy! was I bethrilled when I saw the reason….BARCALOUNGERS!!
Have you SEEN these things?!?!? They are cozy and wonderful and waaaaay overdue. They were so comfortable and sleep inducing that I actually dozed off providing my darlings with the opportunity to get free refills at the new Coke machines which are also noteworthy. And who knew there is Raspberry Coke? Delish.
Gymnastics
You know you’re a mom when you’re getting up at 4 AM to pack lunches and prep for a schlep to the middle of nowhere so your 9 year old daughter can compete in her first gymnastics tournament. I didn’t realize how long a gymnastics meet lasted….3 1/2 hours seems like a lot to expect a parent to endure. My precious won a 4th place medal for the uneven bars and 5th for floor exercise so the payoff was an incredibly happy girl and, ultimately, 3 1/2 hours well spent. Please indulge me while I gush for a moment. This event highlighted a bunch of things I already knew but don’t take the time to appreciate enough. This kid is incredible. Resilient. Happy. A great friend. She did a face plant into the mats on her first attempt at the vault. It looked like a real show stopper. Did she cry? No. Did she berate herself? Not at all. She shook it off, went back to the starting point, nailed her next vault and was rewarded with a good score. There’s a lot of sitting around during these things and some of the kids were squirmy or goofing around. My girl cheered her teammates on and gave them thumbs up and encouragement while sitting on the sidelines. I love this kid. If she wasn’t mine I would wish that she was. Nothing makes me happier than seeing my children experiencing joy and if I have to get up at 4 AM to make that happen, no big deal. This was my favorite new thing so far this year.
Skate with the Greats
My job has some nice perks. Occasionally, I get to go someplace or do something in the name of work and from time to time my whole family benefits. On Friday night I took my family skating in Rockefellar Center for the 20th Annual Skate with the Greats benefit for Ronald McDonald house which my company sponsored. https://rmh-newyork.org/skate My little one had a lot of concerns before we got there but took to it like a squirrel to a tree and zipped around the rink unaided overandoverandoverandover again. I hadn’t skated in years so needing to stay close to her set the perfect pace. My older girl glided effortlessly around, stopped to help the little one and smiled the entire time. My favorite thing in the world is making my children happy and if I can do it while checking off another new thing it’s bonus time. So skating in Rockefellar Center is off my list and smiley skatey satisfied children is the happy bi-product.