Blog = Soapbox

Let me start this post by saying I love babies. I love their cute little hands and feet and those chubby baby thighs and I love little toddlers and their cute questions and their little wobbly steps. I love to see them, I love to have them around me, I love that they exist in the world. I can't wait to have a truckload of babies of my own. Can you feel the "but" coming? Oh it's coming. Here it is: BUT, one of my biggest pet peeves in life is babies and/or toddlers brought to movies with a start time after 8:00 pm. The later the movie, the more it annoys me. Perhaps I will change my tune about this after I am a parent myself, but for now I can only apply my single childless person's rationale. Your child should not be attending rated R movies that start at 10:20 pm. If you cannot find a baby-sitter, THEN YOU CANNOT GO TO THE MOVIES. I know. It's awful. Your life is not your own anymore. Sorry, but you have a kid now. A kid who needs to be in bed by 8 pm, not dragged out because mommy and daddy want to reclaim their lost independence.

I went to see The Hangover with Joe last night, a movie that is most decidedly not child appropriate, and made even less so because it started past 10 pm. There was an adorable toddler attending. A wide-awake toddler sucking a bottle of apple juice. At 10:30 pm. There was also a young couple who walked into the theater with a very small baby in a baby carrier. The movie started and then mom whipped baby out and started breast feeding. No, people, no. Go home. Put baby to bed properly. Try RENTING a movie. Look into Netflix, I hear it's convenient.

Please forgive this rant, but Joe is tired of hearing about this pet peeve of mine and luckily I now have a public forum so I can unleash all my wise and reasonable opinions on the world.

And while I'm discussing it, another pet peeve of mine: people who put their chewing gum on their dinner plates. Um, ew. No, no, that is not okay. I do not want to see the wadded up piece of grossness you've been chewing on for the last hour. Dispose of it properly and then put another piece in your mouth after eating if you must but don't make me stare at it while I'm trying to enjoy my dining experience. It grosses me out so completely, I cannot even begin to explain the depth of my disgust.

So in conclusion: no babies out past 8 pm and no gum on display during dining. Thank you for your time, America.