Choosing Nigel's First Movie

From time to time, people ask us if Nigel has seen this movie or that movie. We always answer 'no' because he has yet to see ANY movie. Sure, we watch the occasional episode of Sesame Street or Arthur, but we're still pretty restrictive with screen time. Plus, we're really just too busy.

But the real reason that Nigel hasn't watched a true movie yet is perhaps that Tim and I can't pick the perfect one. We want it to be a memorable, age-appropriate experience. (My first movie theater movie was E.T., which has left me scarred to this very day.) When Tim was out of town this winter for work, and Nigel and I had been trapped inside by the ice storm for several days, I broke down and tried to find a movie to stream on Netflix. The movies that I had made mental notes about were either PG (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) or were only available on DVD (yeah, we're so cheap we won't pay the extra $2 a month to upgrade our Netflix account). And when I think about borrowing some classics from my childhood from the library — Land Before Time, Old Yeller, Little Mermaid — I quickly remember that they all have sad, scary and/or violent parts.

Tim thought he had found the perfect solution when he bought Nigel Follow that Bird for his birthday. Nigel, however, made Tim turn it off because he was disturbed by Big Bird being trapped in a cage.

Is it so horrible that Nigel hasn't seen a full-length movie yet? No. In fact, it's probably good. I've seen some toddler TV zombies, and it's sad. But it's just one more of those little parenting things that I never in a million years expected to think about so much.

What was your kid's first real movie?