Fun at the Movies

I mentioned in my earlier postings on Shawn that since he has been out of school he has been a little bored and at a loss for things to do. He attends a wonderful program at the ARC called VIP. This is on Tuesdays and Thursdays and even though technically, they can usually sign up for one of the activities a week since outings are limited to ten people. Shawn is usually first on the waiting list so most weeks he gets to go both days.

So Tuesdays and Thursdays are covered.

That just leaves the other five days. Really four days since Sunday is pretty well taken up with church. So that leaves Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Now Shawn does spend a lot of time in his room watching TV and I know that this is not the best situation. I usually bring him along with me when I run errands if it is a Shawn kinda place I'm going to. That would be anywhere with a movie-home entertainment-section or a health and beauty dept.

Yes Shawn loves health and beauty departments. I guess that will have to be explained in another post.

Now of all the things that Shawn enjoys, movies are probably one of the biggest. In fact (and I think I already mentioned this in one of my other posts about him) I don't think there are many times when he doesn't have at least one movie running through his head.

So probably the best thing I do for Shawn is take him to the movies.

We always go to the matinee and we have (well mostly me I guess) decided that we like the Fairchild Cinemas in Pasco best.

It is the most geographically desirable.

That might sound strange since we live clear over in Kennewick pretty close to the Kennewick Walmart. The reason that Fairchild is best for us is that once a week I take my mom to dialysis. The dialysis building is pretty much in the parking lot of the Fairchild Cinema. So we drop mom off around 12. And then depending on what time the movie starts we might kill a little time at Yokes or Walmart.

Okay, I believe that is adequate background.

Now the only problem with our movie plans is when there isn't a movie worth seeing. This happens quite often. Sometimes when the selection is pretty limited, but it's been so long between movies I decide to suffer through a horrible movie for Shawn's sake. This is how I ended up sitting through the hour and a half torture that was "The Simpson Movie".

I still want that time back.

Well right now there are quite a few good movie out. The early summer releases and all. Last week we went and saw "Indiana Jones". It was pretty good. I don't know if I would want to sit through it again with Don, but I don't think I'll have to because for some reason he doesn't seem terribly interested in it.

I also seemed to have dodged taking Shawn to see "Speed Racer". I knew if I could hold out long enough that there would be enough good movies out to distract him from Good Ol Speed.

Now the one that we have both been looking forward to was "Kung Foo Panda." I love Jack Black. He is just so darn cute and likable. Cute in a cabbage patch kid way, not a Brad Pitt or David Cook way. Last weekend Kung Foo Panda opened. Don and I almost went to see it on my birthday. I was hoping if we went to an earlier matinee it wouldn't be too crowded yet.

Wrong!

It was very very crowded. Needless to say we did not go. I sort of have a feeling that Don thinks he dodged a bullet.

( Gee Susan nice using the word dodged twice in one post)

Well needless to say, today was, take mom to dialysis day. I had not seen Kung Foo Panda, Shawn wanted very much to see Kung Foo Panda.

So guess what Shawn and I did today????

Good guess. We saw Kung Foo Panda.

It was really good. I'm not real big on Dream Works computer animation. I am not a fan of their "Shrek" movies. And they seem to take so much pride in those ones too. I did however really like "Madagascar".

Well I can highly recommend "Kung Foo Panda". It was cute. They didn't try to impress you with how cool they are by throwing in a bunch of Hip, Cultural References or by using a lot of inappropriate innuendos. Nope it was just a sweet, cute movie about learning to have faith in yourself and following your dreams. I really liked it.

Shawn LOVED it!

Now Shawn, like a lot of other mentally disabled people, does not have a lot of, emotional control, I guess you could call it. When he enjoys something, brother you will know he is enjoying it. He isn't self conscious like regular people, and I have never tried to steer him in that direction either. So when he finds something amusing he laughs with his whole heart.

He was practically rolling in the aisles today.

Now fortunately I am hardly ever embarrassed by Shawn. Only when he does something really bad like throw a fit in public. But you know I don't think even then I am embarrassed by him. Probably more frustrated than anything.

When we are at the movies though, I am never at all embarrassed by Shawn enjoying himself. Yes he is probably laughing louder than and more frequently than anyone else in the theatre. He may be rubbing his hands together. (Something he does when he is really happy and/or excited.) But I just have fun being with him.

I love to watch him enjoy himself.

I think everyone would be just a little bit happier if we could experience the utter abandon that these special people feel when they are immersed in a joyful moment.

So if you are ever at the movies or another event and are lucky enough to be seated by a special needs person, please take the time to enjoy them, enjoying themselves. I guarantee your spirit will be lightened and your outlook will be brighter.

Now that I think of it, that is how I survived " The Simpson Movie".