Some Friday Fun

It is Thursday night as I write this and, after a l-o-n-g week with my husband gone, a sick child, just general mom duties (taxi driver, cook, counselor, etc.), coupled with teaching and writing, well... let's just say I'm ready for the weekend. Though I don't have high hopes for it to be as fun as last weekend. But you never know. Life is full of surprises, right?

I took this of the screen at the theater the other night. Somehow you were supposed to crouch down in the corner of the movie screen and it was supposed to appear that the family is reacting to you. My kids and I never could figure out how that would work scale-wise since the screen is so massive and we would appear so small, but they weren't about to go up there and play along anyway. Anyone else have kids like this? Just me? Ok.

And speaking of surprises, it was no surprise to me that my kids loved the movie Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day. I was able to take them to a sneak preview on Wednesday night and the 9th grader, 7th grader and 3rd grader all gave it an enthusiastic two thumbs up. (They really didn't actually put their thumbs up, but verbally they gave it their glowing, gushing endorsement.)

The filmmakers were smart in that they had a range of ages in the movie so that meant there were a range of ages to appeal to. The 9th grader liked the "get the drivers license, go to prom" storyline. The 7th grader totally identified with Alexander since he's also 12. The 3rd grader just loved the nonstop hijinks. And me? I totally identified with the overwrought, stressed out parents who just want this to happen:

That's a sunset, in case it's not obvious.

Just keepin' it real.

My favorite quote from the movie? "Sometimes you have to have bad days so the good days seem even better." Amen, Alexander. Amen.

If you're looking for something fun to do tonight or this weekend-- something that will appeal to the whole family (how rare is that?)-- give Alexander a chance. He's had a very bad day. He could use it.