A Cloudy Day at the Movies with the girls
15 Oct 2013
We love to do things as a family, but our schedule is quite busy. What this means is sometimes, it does not permit us to do things as a “complete” family.
On top of school and work schedules, our evenings are quite busy:
Monday: Rachel has Girl Guides and Lauren has Sparks (back-to-back)
Tuesday: Swimming lessons for Rachel and Lauren (back-to-back)
Wednesday: we are free!*
Thursday: Choir practice for Wendy and the girls (back-to-back)
Friday: Wendy and I lead the Senior Youth Group at our church
Last year, Rachel had Brownies on Wednesday, and Lauren had Sparks on Monday. This year, we were able to get them both in groups the met on the same day.
My job as senior community manager for Ford Canada often has me at events in the evening. This makes for a long day for Wendy. But it’s all about balance, and we work well as a team.
Every once in a while, I like to take the girls out to the park, or to the movies, or do an activity… just the 3 of us. This allows Wendy to have some down time, or do something for herself… go out with friends, reading, writing her blog, or even something as simple as enjoying a peaceful non-interrupted nap.
Wendy does the same. As important as it is to do things as a family, it is also important to have that personal time with your kids… without your significant other. This allows some personal bonding time.
Wendy and I do not compete for the kid’s affections by trying to one up each other. Everything we do is discussed with one another beforehand. We love each other very much, and we love our kids. Doing the best for all of us is key.
We also realize that there are some events that will take us away from our family for the day or weekend.
In this case, the Blissdom Canada social media conference was happening in Mississauga, and many of Wendy’s friends were attending. Wendy did not buy a ticket this year, as she has commitments on Friday evening (Senior Youth Group) and Sunday morning (Teen Talk) at our church. A few others that could not attend the entire conference, but still wanted to see others who were, all got together and met for dinner. She had a great time with friends.
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is one of our family’s favourite movies. We have watched it an infinite amount of times in our house, and on camping trips.
I knew how much they liked it, so I didn’t tell them where we were going. I just said, “okay girls, hop in the truck… we’re going out.” Of course, it was followed by, “where are we going Daddy?”
When I pulled into our local cinema, they both screamed out “we’re going to see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2!” I followed it with “That’s right! We’re going to go see Flint Lockwood!” in my best Earl Devereaux imitation (voiced by Mr. T in Cloudy 1, and Terry Crews in Cloudy 2).
The girls love going to movies… but like most kids their age, it is tough to keep them engaged in any movie. I remember taking them to movies and half way through, them wanting to leave.
Not this time… their eyes were glued to the screen. Lots of cheering, laughing, and singing along. It could not have been a better choice for a Saturday evening.
We all really enjoyed it. I was thoroughly impressed on how they were able to carry the storyline from the first movie, and incorporate all the characters.
What are some of your family’s favourite movies, and how do you like to keep your kids engaged when your significant other is away?
Cheers,
Big Daddy
If you would like me to review your service, product, or travel destination, please send me an email at craig@bigdaddykreativ.ca or find me on “the twitter” at @BigDaddyKreativ
Craig Silva
Craig is a husband, father, team leader, travel and food writer, senior youth group coordinator, designer, brander, community builder, volunteer, and social media strategist. He likes to travel, go camping, go on road trips, watch movies, build stuff, operate the grill, and sing with his band. Craig is a member of the Travel Media Association of Canada. If you are a PR agency or brand and would like Craig to review a travel destination, vehicle, restaurant, product or service, please send him an email.
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That’s so great that you take the girls and I agree that it’s so important not to compete with your spouse for the kid’s affections but to join together :) My hubby and I are a team and our kids are part of our team and we all “work” together ;) I can’t wait to take our kids to see that movie…the previews look hilarious!
What’s gonna work… TEAMWORK! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijsHtY7aV7I
Can’t wait to take all the kids to see this movie. The trailer looks very funny. I like to make sure my kids get one-on-one time with me. We do mom and daughter dates and mom and son dates.
That is awesome… it’s really important to bond with your kids… especially with being so busy at work.
I for one am thankful you took your girls to the movies because that gave me a chance to see Wendy (however brief a visit it was!). My girls love the movies. Maybe they love the popcorn more? Who knows! We love to head to Starbucks for a girls treat when Dad is away. The girls love it.
It was awesome that Wendy was able to get away… she really missed being at the conference this year. I’m pretty sure she won’t miss out next year.
My kids are dying to see this movie! We love it too!! I can’t wait to its released!
we’ll be sure to pick this one up on DVD.
My little one enjoyed it with her daddy too :)
So awesome! It really is a fun franchise.
Our favourite family movies have to be Shrek and Toy Story! We go out for dinner, go shopping or spend the day at home playing games and watching movies. I love it when we all sleep in and make pancakes:)
DONKEY! I love Shrek!
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs is one of our favourites! We can’t wait to see part two. The only problem with that movie is that we always crave hamburgers!
Oh yes… and everything else that falls from the sky!
I call it girl’s night and we di fun stuff – sometimes movies, sometimes manis and pedis. Once in awhile we watch Next Star on YTV and sometimes we just hang out. Whatever! We are gad you took the girls. It was great to see Wendy again.
I wonder if the girls would like to do that with Daddy? I heart pedicures. Shhhh… don’t tell anyone.