Activity #92: Go to the theater where crying is allowed
Thank God for TiVo, but did you know some theaters also have special showings for new parents? These showings have different names in different cities, but the idea that yours will not (most likely) be the loudest baby in the theatre is the common thread.
Julian’s first movie as a newborn was Closer and Holden’s was Star Wars Episode III. Both kids were frequent attendees of Baby Brigade during their first year.
Select theaters are participating in a program called Baby Pictures. Check the website to see if there is a baby movie showing in a city near you.
The Kerasotes chain in Illinois and IndianaMatinee Movie Magic. I thought I was pretty magical when I watched Julia Roberts in Closer while doing my first in public breastfeeding (without crying!) when Julian was 5 weeks old. This mistakenly led Heather, my 19-weeks pregnant escort, to believe that nursing is easy.
Stroller matinees are a good early outing for freaked out new parents. Crying is totally allowed.
In LA, Monday Morning Mommy Movies weekly at 11:00 am (on Mondays, duh!) at the Grove, Beach Cities, Paseo, and Town Square. Thanks Portia!
In Portland, McMenamin’s Kennedy School hosts the occasional Mommy Matinee and for cheap!
Austin, TX has Baby Day Movie at Alamo Draft House Cinema (Tuesday and Friday). Parents are allowed to bring infants into the movie for shows starting before 2:05 pm. (check website for movie times and location).
For our local mommies:
In El Cerrito, El Cerrito Speakeasy’s Baby Brigade shows movies on Tuesday nights for babies under one year (and their parents!) along with a pizza and beer.
In Alameda, the Central Cinema also has a baby night for those under a year. We found out about it just after both babies were too old to go - darn!
In San Francisco, realtor Jill Russo sponsors a monthly Mommy Movie on the second Thursday of each and every month. And it’s FREE!




If you are like me, you are not going to do this yourself. You might need someone to boss you around, er, I mean guide you. And Darcy put her work out on a video, so now you have it. It’s called Chicks-n-Chickens Lullaby Exercises and the DVD shows a room full of baby-wearing women getting a workout.


