Gambling is NOT Illigeal in Hawaii...

…not when it’s with a 6 week old and trip to the movies.

We knew the risks, so we opted for the dollar theater. Total bet: $2. We could afford to take a hit like that. Potential winnings: An hour and a half in blissful AC watching Tina Fey and Steve Carell in Date Night.So, we took every precaution to ensure that we’d have a succesful movie-going-with-infant experience.

We fed her.

We changed her.

We tried to put her to sleep.

But she didn’t go to sleep.

We figured she’ll sleep eventually.

And if she was hungry, I had pumped a bottle for her.

Hoping we had all our bases covered, we went in, bought our tickets and sat down in the back.

She started whimpering. When she starts whimpering, YOU KNOW she’s warning you that the REAL crying is coming soon.

She wasn’t liking her wrap, especially when I’m sitting down and she’s in it, so I took her into the hallway to try to put her to sleep. I stood there rocking her while people passed me by, some with pitiful smiles that said “Oh you poor thing. I hope you get her to sleep before your movie starts.” Pregnant women walked by smiling at me. I smiled back with a look that said “Yeah. That’s right. Enjoy your movies while you can because you’re gonna be joining me in the hallway in a matter of weeks.”

Well, I had been standing outside for about 15 minutes when the actual movie began to start. In a last ditch effort I thought if I could sit down and latch her on (she didn’t want her bottle) then she would be quiet and nurse herself to sleep. THAT DID NOT WORK AT ALL. I just couldn’t get my clothes out of the way fast enough. She SCREAMED during a really quiet part in the very beginning. I knew this just wasn’t going to work. So we walked out. A sweet lady in front of me turned around and said “I don’t mind. Stay. Stay. I don’t mind.” I thanked her but said we knew the risks and took a gamble. Bottom line: Noweo wasn’t happy, and I can’t enjoy anything if she’s not happy, so there was no point in sticking around.

Can you guess what happened the SECOND we stepped out of the building? Yeah. She falls DEAD ASLEEP.

Tip for movie-goers with babies: Drive around until you absolutely have to go in.

I think our afternoon ended up even better than we planned. We drove around Hilo, took a beach run down the coast, went to the park and talked. The best things in life don’t cost money (unless you’re counting gas). Leave it to Noweo to teach us that lesson by screaming and then going to sleep. Love her.