Today Josiah and I went to the movies.  We spent more time preparing for the movie than actually enjoying it.

We were the first to arrive.  The doors were locked when we got there. We sat in the parking lot for 10 minutes while I downloaded an app, entered a gift card number and opened up my email to get electronic tickets.

We watched as the ticket taker attempted to copy the authorization number from my phone in order to print out paper tickets.  It wasn’t going well for some reason.  He walked away to get help, leaving Josiah and me to wait.  Josiah walked away too, many times actually.

There is lots to see and hear and smell in the lobby of  a large movie theater. Like a moth to a flame, Josiah finds the brightest, most intense light source and gravitates towards it. He stood transfixed, gazing with rapt attention at the lights on the ceiling, while I did my best to redirect him back to me.

With tickets in hand, we stopped to take a quick bathroom break then stood in line for some popcorn. Josiah does best when there is food involved.  A large bag of popcorn should be just enough to last through most of the movie.  But, just to be safe, I brought along some freeze dried fruit, a nutrition bar and some fruit snacks.  One can never be too prepared.

There were 3-4 groups of people in front of us at the concession stand.  With only one employee serving customers, the wait was lengthy.  The lights were bright.  Josiah was distracted and drawn away.  To keep him close, to keep him content, I held his hands and ever so slowly, we danced.

Right there in line, oblivious to the people in front of us and the people behind  us, we shifted from one foot to the other, back and forth in a swaying motion.  There was no music playing.

Josiah smiled.

He stayed by my side, content until our popcorn was ready.  We made our way to the nearly empty theater and found seats near the front, close to the exit, just in case.

The show was scheduled for 10:35 am.  We got there at 10 am. Josiah had been a trooper through this whole experience for over half an hour.  So far so good.  Ads ran first and he watched.  Previews followed and he ignored them.  He stared at the lights along the wall and played with a string toy.  By the time the movie started, we had been sitting in our seats for what seemed like an eternity.

It’s no wonder Josiah was losing interest.  He had eaten quite a bit of popcorn, finished most of the dried fruit and wasn’t even looking towards the screen.

We made it for another 30 minutes before Josiah made it very apparent he was ready to go.  He stood up, climbed over me, one shoe on, one shoe off and bolted towards the door.

Baby steps.  An hour at the movies is better than 10 minutes at the movies.  Next time, we will sit near the back.

Just in case we have to dance.