I remember the first time I brought the little man to the cinema to watch a 3D film, although I did not expect him to be glued on the big screen the entire time, I did not actually expect him to be all that fidgety + whiny after just about less than an hour inside the movie house. It was actually my fault, he was just more than a year old at the time. I guess it was a bit too soon for him. Fast forward to May of this year, Jared was simply well-behaved whilst watching the film we chose to see that day. Although he got a bit scared in some parts, he was just covering his eyes {+ had my hands cover his ears, too!} + was not fussing about it. I’ d say that particular time we watched a movie at the theater is really a success! My son’s behavior was quite impeccable! I guess it has a lot to do with good manners that we were able to finish the film without annoying or disturbing the rest of the audience.
Frequent movie goers have at least one terrible movie experience with an annoying audience. There are even some people who get thrown out of the movie house because of bad behavior. Part of our responsibility as parents is to teach our kids proper etiquette in public or social situations including going to the cinemas. We can’t teach kids things that we don’t know, so the first thing that we should do is brush up on our etiquette. As adults, we should be the first ones to observe good etiquette in the movies. We can teach it to our kids by showing them appropriate behaviors whenever we go out to watch movies with them.
One of the basic things that we should consider before bringing a child to the theater is the child’s readiness. A movie requires your child to sit and behave quietly for about an hour and a half to two hours. If you feel that this is something that your child can accomplish then you can start planning for his first movie house trip. Otherwise, you’d end up with a cranky kid that will annoy the rest of the audience. Once your child starts getting restless or behaves in a manner that may distract other viewers, then it’s time to leave the theater. You can discuss your good manners rules for the theater with your child before you leave the house for a movie so they know what to expect. Reminding them to enjoy the movie and to wait for the ending can also help in keeping them engrossed in the film and will minimize their chances of getting restless.
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The first step in teaching good manners in any situation is to lead by example. The second step is to insist that they do the same.
i guess not only kids need this. adults too!