The surprise

When the boys got off the bus today I told them I had a surprise for them.

They asked, "What!?" "What is it!?" "Tell us!"

I said, "Well, what would be the most happy piece of news you could get today?"

Without hesitation, "We're going to the movies?"

"Yes! How's you guess?"

"You're the awesome-est mom in the whole world!" (Not to be confused with "the worst mommy ever," which I have also been called.)

I ushered them into the house and told them we'd be picking up their brother at the normal time and then head straight to the movies from preschool, "so please go amuse yourselves constructively -- yes, you can have some cookies -- while I go take my 4:00 call and wrap up my work day."

Just that morning my middle son had told me he really wanted to see this particular movie, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I knew he did because his classmates had started seeing it. Both of the Bigs have read all the books on which the movie is based. I saw part of an interview on TV and thought they'd like it, as well as having seen the preview to the movie itself. So, I wondered when during the weekend we could squeeze it in. My youngest had a birthday party on Saturday afternoon, and our Sunday was booked, so I figured Saturday morning might work, but then realized that's probably what everyone else would think, too. And then come to find out the movie wasn't playing in our theater-of-choice until Saturday afternoon.

So, while I was disappointed to find out this morning that my regular Thursday night engagement was cancelled, and very worried about the reason why, I knew right off the bat what we could do instead. Not that we actually had to do anything (we had already been out all of the previous nights this week, but fortunately since it's MCAS week, no one has homework), but I had coupons for our favorite theater for two free admissions and three free popcorns that could only be used on week nights.

We arrived with plenty of time to spare, and the theater was sparsely populated. The kids tried to lure me over to the video games but I made a beeline for the ticket-taker, who happened to have this enormous binder -- it had to be six inches thick -- full of Duel Master cards. I think they were Duel Master, anyway. They weren't Yu-Gi-Oh! or Pokemon: he assured me he had grown out of those in elementary school. I asked him what grade he's in now and he said he's been out of school two years. I wondered if my kids would still be interested in these types of cards when they're that age. Currently their collection of Japanime cards is displayed on my younger two's bedroom floor (I am happy to say that our baseball cards are safe and secure). I have been wading through it for days, maybe even a week. I muttered at them the other day, "I think I'll just throw out everything on this floor -- what a pit." But if I actually did that, I'd have to pick it all up first.

The movie place where we go is actually a dinner theater with big comfortable reclining chairs, so we had dinner in addition to the show tonight. Or, my youngest and I had dinner and The Bigs picked at their food because they had eaten too many cookies after school. They were so apologetic I didn't even need to deliver the lecture about wasting food and money.

The movie was good but I can tell it stirred up a considerable amount of angst for The Bigs who are on the verge of middle school. In fact, my oldest's orientation is in two weeks. We talked about the importance of being true to yourself and how stuff that happens in Jr. High and High School seems so important at the time, but once you graduate, it's a whole new ball game.