We decided to go to the movies for Father’s Day today. The problem was too many movie choices. Shrek 4. Toy Story 3. Karate Kid redux. Iron Man 2. Normally our kids would be happy to see any of those. But today we had a problem. Prince of Persia. Y has been wanting to see that movie since he saw the trailers on tv months ago.
But P really wanted to see Karate Kid and it was Father’s Day. We told I and E. Great, they said. Then we told Y. His face fell. He said he didn’t want to see that movie, it looked too boring. ” No way”, we reassured him. It will be just as funny (Jackie Chan!) and have just as much action as the original that he loved. ” It looks boring”, Y said again, this time from underneath the dining room table.
P and I and looked at each other. We knew this was one of those instances where there is no reasoning or debating with Y. For him, it was unthinkable to see any other movie before he saw Prince of Persia. It just could not be done.
So we all saw Prince of Persia and it was surprisingly good. It had a bit of a time travel theme to it which I love. Lots of fighting and action which my daughter I, loves, and some super cool bad guys which E loves (ever since she was very little she has rooted for the bad guys in movies. Gaston from “Beauty and the Beast” was her first love).
Y was enthralled! It was a pretty long movie but he sat through the whole thing without asking for more candy (unheard of!) and he would occasionally lean over and tell me about why something just happened, in case I hadn’t understood. ;o) When we got home he told me that it was his favorite movie ever, even more than Star Wars. And that is saying something.
We have learned the hard way with A that you really have to choose your battles. This day would not have ended so pleasantly when A was Y’s age. We would not have understood his intractability. It is amazing to encounter the same problems so many years later but to have them resolved so much more peacefully. If we had only understood…
My only dilemma now is, what movie should we see next, now that Prince of Persia is out of the way?
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