Harry Potter at midnight

[2mama]

So Harry Potter opens on Tuesday night at midnight in our area and dh has decided to take dd 9.5 to the midnight show since she is obsessed with it and we have read all of the books with her.. What do you think?

[Susana]

I think it's a great idea! It's how we always go to see the new HP releases, and we always have a blast! hope they have fun

[MidgeMommy]

I would say harmless; she's going with her Dad as a special occasion. Different rules (i.e. bedtime) apply for special time, that's what makes it special. My dad and I always went to the movies as our bonding time, and I love those memories.

Besides, Harry Potter is COOL!

Now, if she wanted to go with a group of friends, no way. 9.5 is too young for a midnight showing to be an outing. But Daddy? Sounds like a little girl's dream.

[Dar]

We've been going at midnight ever since... book 3, maybe? Or 4? We still lived in Alameda, so Rain couldn't have been more than 8? I think it was Goblet of Fire - that's when I remember the midnight parties beginning.

But yeah, GO! There's nothing inherenting dangerous or scary about nighttime, and I think it will be one of the defining moments of a generation - Where Were You When Book 7 Came Out?

Dar

[Linda on the move]

sounds fun!

We went to the midnight show of Shrek III this summer and it was great fun. (My kids are 9 and 10). I don't know that we will go for HP, though, because my kids are in Horse Camp this week and I think that being up half the night and then getting up in the morning to go muck out a stall is a bad idea. (They should sleep at some point).

[sbm1001]

Sounds like a great time to me! I'd do it with my ds, but I have kids to take care of in the a.m., so I can't. We'll be going this week, though.

Shannon

[Dar]

Originally Posted by Beli

I'm going with my parents (and brother)! I hope they have a blast!

Ha! And midnight here is two hours before midnight there, so I will can call you and give everything away... but I won't, 'cause I'm nice like that.

Dar

[Jessy1019]

Sounds fun! I am debating taking dd and ds (4.5 and 16 months) but I don't quite trust myself to stay awake through the whole thing. We are going to the midnight book party though.

[sbm1001]

Originally Posted by Jessy1019

Sounds fun! I am debating taking dd and ds (4.5 and 16 months) but I don't quite trust myself to stay awake through the whole thing. We are going to the midnight book party though.

No offense, but if I saw a 4.5 y.o. & 16 mo. old out with their parents at the HP midnight show, I'd be judgmental & wonder why in the world those parents would drag their kids to it. And I'd know the obvious answer. And I'd not like the answer.

I'm not ususally judgmental, but when I see little kids out with their parents at places they don't have to be, late at night when they should be sleeping, it irks me.

Shannon

[Dar]

You're assuming that all little kids usually go to bed during the early evening, though, and wake early in the morning. When Rain was little, she generally went to bed between 11 and 1, and woke around 9 hours later, so she was regularly out and about at midnight. I'm not sure what the "obvious answer" is to you, because it's not obvious to me, but saying that children "should be sleeping" at that time is extrapolating what your family does to cover all children, and that doesn't always work.

Dar

[Ruth S]

What bothers me more than the timing is the idea of taking such little children to a movie that is rated PG13. The sensory overload of any movie these days (especially the volume) is something I would not expose a 14 month-old to in a movie theatre. The last Harry Potter movie was quite scary (my 11 year-old has only just seen it, and that's after reading the book, but only during daylight hours because she got nightmares if she read it at night) -- this one is apparently more so.

Even though many parents choose to ignore them, movies do have ratings for a reason, even if only as a guideline. I often don't agree with them, but I do use them as a guide and educate myself about a film before I take my kids.

[nextcommercial]

Originally Posted by sbm1001

No offense, but if I saw a 4.5 y.o. & 16 mo. old out with their parents at the HP midnight show, I'd be judgmental & wonder why in the world those parents would drag their kids to it. And I'd know the obvious answer. And I'd not like the answer.

I'm not ususally judgmental, but when I see little kids out with their parents at places they don't have to be, late at night when they should be sleeping, it irks me.

Shannon

The only thing that would bother me about them taking little kids to a midnight movie, is that I don't want a little kid sitting behind me in a movie. If I go to a movie at midnight (which I am far too lazy to do) I would assume that there are no toddlers in the theater at that time. Four or five year olds wouldn't concern me, but a kid under three would be noisy and distracting to me.

It may be wrong of me, but I don't like to go to movies with toddlers in the theater. Even though H.P is technically a child's movie, I still don't want to share it with small children.

We saw Shooter in the theater. It was rated R and pretty violent. There were two families with kids all under the age of three. My husband was so mad, all the kids were running up and down the stairs, crying, yelling, talking about the blood. They pretty much ruined the movie.

Why don't theaters stop families from bringing kids into R rated movies???

(O.K, that was a thread drift)

[mamaofthree]

I have often worried what people think when I am out late with my kids... but they don't know me or my kids, or what our family's bed time is. We are night owls. On any given night we are up till midnight. I joke that my kids will need to work the swing shift... 3-11pm as we stay up late and sleep in. I guess I know how some people see it.

Any way back to the OP I think your dd will have a great time. If she tends to crash early maybe a nap (if she will take one being thatshe is 9 lol) so she can be awake for the movie.

H

[mummyto3girls]

We're taking 5 year old DD and 3 year old DD in midnight and it depends on the kid, I took my DD's(4 and 2 at the time, do they cried? no where they scared? absolutely not) to see HP4 and they loved it, it totally depends of the kid.

So if I take my kids on midnight I don't care what people will think.

[gargirl]

Heck I drag my kids out to the bookstore to get the Harry Potter books at midnight! I think the midnight movie would be a blast.

Then we love the drive in, where the movies don't start until 9:00 and they play 2!

[UnschoolnMa]

The assumption that all children go to bed at an early time in the evening is what irks me, honestly.

We've kept all kinds of hours over the years and so have the kids. Parents who aren't being mindful of their child's sleep indicators... forcing a kid to go to a late movie or some other thing when they are clearly tired and do not want to be there...would bother me too. But, just happy kids out late with parents? No problem.

Harry at midnight sounds great!

[Jessy1019]

Originally Posted by sbm1001

No offense, but if I saw a 4.5 y.o. & 16 mo. old out with their parents at the HP midnight show, I'd be judgmental & wonder why in the world those parents would drag their kids to it. And I'd know the obvious answer. And I'd not like the answer.

I'm not ususally judgmental, but when I see little kids out with their parents at places they don't have to be, late at night when they should be sleeping, it irks me.

Shannon

I don't mind being judged one bit; if I did, I'd be a lousy parent.

However, DD loves HP and would sleep for a few hours before the movie so as to be happy and alert while it was on. DS has no attachment to the movie, but I know he'll fall back to sleep with me as opposed to waking up at home to find me gone and throwing a fit with only his dad there.

If I thought I could stay awake, it'd be a good experience for all of us (even with someone judging my parenting while we were there ).

[Jessy1019]

Originally Posted by nextcommercial

It may be wrong of me, but I don't like to go to movies with toddlers in the theater. Even though H.P is technically a child's movie, I still don't want to share it with small children.

We saw Shooter in the theater. It was rated R and pretty violent. There were two families with kids all under the age of three. My husband was so mad, all the kids were running up and down the stairs, crying, yelling, talking about the blood. They pretty much ruined the movie.

That's bad parenting and not indicitive of how all children in that age group behave at movies.

Why don't theaters stop families from bringing kids into R rated movies???

Why do people think they have a right to dictate where other parents bring their own children? I am comfortable with my kids seeing r-rated movies and I would be absolutely livid if someone arbitrarily decided I couldn't bring them to the theater to see them.

(O.K, that was a thread drift)[/QUOTE]

[intorainbowz]

Gee... and I was seriously toying with taking DD who is 14 months to see HP because we are night owls and she will likely nurse or watch the movie.... and here I would be being a neglectful and selfish parent. Silly me.

[warriorprincess]

I'm taking 10 and 8 yo to the midnight book party.