Pink Shoes: Let's go to the movies.......

Watch this clip. It will make you feel good. It will remind you how much you wanted to be Grace when you were growing up and how you still wish you had a dressing room like she had to get ready in every day.

Ah. This is my favorite scene from Annie, hands-down. It really strikes a cord with that inner-princess/glam girl/1930's lovin'/it would be fun to be a millionaire/girl in me--and let's be honest and just admit it--all of us.

We took Georgia to see her first movie today and before we went I threw on a pencil skirt, sashayed around my bedroom, fell onto my fainting couch for effect, rolled my hair, and peeked dramatically through my curtains.

We went to see "The Secret World of Arriety." Hard to find a rated G movie anymore that doesn't look like it has scary parts like a mommy deer that dies, an evil lion who sets the valley on fire, a deceptive, Triton wielding octopus, or a witch that poisons people with apples (really Disney? way to get kids not to eat fruit). And these are things I scoffed at before I had a kid,"seriously--that's scary?,"--but they really do scare them--it's crazy. Especially a kid like mine--who is SO sensitive.

You know those ads on TV with abused animals and Sarah McLachlan singing--the ones that ruin your whole day, send you running from the living room so you don't have to watch them, and make you feel like a huge piece of human garbage if you don't run out right now and adopt one? Yeah. You know. Georgia cried the first time she saw one of those, "Why do those animals look sad?" "What's wrong with that doggie?" "I don't want those cats to look like that." I'm not lying. She cried.

So, I had to be careful when I picked a movie that was going to be right there in her face with surround sound. And was she ever excited...........she's told every human being we've come in contact with for four days that we were going to see a movie.

I think it's so much fun to experience these first with her. I hoard them, I do. I've learned as a mom that there will be very few first experiences that I will ever be willing to let someone else have with Georgia. They're all mine........I think it's a great pay-off for all of the things that are really hard about being a mom. It's kind of like your pay-check. Those tantrums, no nap days (which are every day here), huge messes in the living room, greasy hand-print stains on your jeans, endless bed-time shenanigans, and the saga of constipation/UTI's/and potty-training are the work you do to get paid in shrieks of excitement at first movies, plays, presents, eating out, amusement parks, beaches, trip to Florida, and a lifetime of moments to look forward to. Moms (and Dads).....don't give those away. Don't give away your paycheck! It's the best paycheck you'll ever get.........by a million dollars.

So when Georgia told everyone we were going to a movie I felt like I was getting a little advance on my paycheck because it kind of makes my mom heart swell a little bit seeing how excited she was about something that on any given day is just really.........normal.

She liked the movie.....for the most part. It's hard for her to sit still for even ten minutes so ninety is her Everest. We ended up leaving about twenty minutes early--she'd really hit a wall and started exclaiming things like, "It's too hard for me to be quiet," "I just want to go out and see what's happening in the hallway," and "I'm a little scared." Side note--there is nothing scary about this movie. It's adorable........I think she was just getting antsy and saw that line as a sure-fire way to be able to get out and move around.