Box Office Babies

Eddie is six weeks old today, so as a special treat (well, really a treat for Mummy) we went to our local cinema which was screening The Help as part of their 'Box Office Babies' season.

This ingenious arrangements means that you can bring your baby along to the cinema for a day-time film for not very much money, safe in the knowledge that you can all scream along to the soundtrack together and nobody will mind very much.

I was a little bit late and was ushered in to the darkened studio just as the film was beginning. About fifteen other mums were already settled with their babies, strategically positioned around the room. Etiquette seeemed to demand at least eight spaces between each new mum, so I duly joined the fray. A constant background baby gurgle reached a cacophany of newborn cries at times, (usually at quiet and crucial moments of the film) but babies could be quickly settled by a discreet breastfeed or bottle. There was also constant movement...patting, soothing, sucking, standing and swaying in the aisles, even some singing as we all attempted to keep our babies under some degree of control. And then there was the changing bag relay. It seemed as though somebody was away from the film changing their babies at all times. And we gravitated towards the door towards the end of the film, as babies became increasingly fractious after two hours and twenty six minutes of being 'shushed'.

Two hours and twenty six minutes is significant, because I had only fed the carpark machine enough to cover two hours, but was having such a jolly old time watching the film (and the surreal sight of all these other mums) that I forgot to keep an eye on the time and came back to a parking ticket courtesy of Horsham District Council. So my treat for 'not very much money' suddenly turned in to a horribly expensive morning.

Still, the film was magnificent and the company hilarious. Quite the thing for a wet and windy Tuesday morning of maternity leave. I thoroughly recommend it, assuming that you choose your parking arrangements carefully.

Baring Breasts

I have noted the blogging community's penchant for lists, and inspired by Muddling Along Mummy and her highly entertaining table of things achieved whilst breast-feeding, I have compiled a list of 10 places I have publicly breast-fed in the last 10 days in what I feel, upon reflection, to have been an increasing order of daring.

10. The Local Family and Child Centre
This one was easy-peasy as no-one batted an eyelid during the half-term activities programme.

9. The Library
This did cause a single stare of consternation from an elderly bespectacled gentleman, despite the prominent display of posters in support of breast-feeding.

8. Starbucks
The young, childless couple opposite me regretted their choice of seat and worked hard to pretend not to notice what was happening uncomfortably close to them.

7. The Swimming Pool Spectator Area
This provided a fascinating insight into the way people's faces change from a casual smile and nod of recognition to a gasp of horror...

6. In the bar of the Golf Club
Had to be really discrete with muslin placement; not really the done thing here.

5. Two cricket matches in Gibraltar
Here I encountered lots of red-faced men actually shielding their eyes.

4. Baggage reclaim at Gatwick Airport

3. Passport control at Gatwick Airport

2. On the move through Gatwick Airport and out through 'Arrivals' into the waiting crowds.
These last three should really count as one, but they did seem to become increasingly carefree.

And in the top spot:
1. On a packed communter train coming out of London
There was nothing I could do about this. Would the sardined carriage have preferred a screaming baby for the duration of the ride? The poor lad sitting right next to me was absolutely beside himself with discomfort.

But the most bizarre one of all didn't happen in the last 10 days so it doesn't really count. It happened when my baby was just a few days old: on top of a grave a few metres away (and shielded by plenty of trees) at a funeral. Whilst this felt really weird, I somehow hoped that the unwitting host might well have appreciated the juxtaposition of new life and death.

And the final result of compiling this list has been the realisation that first time around, with Gertie, I would only have done the deed publicly in 10. and 9. Maybe 8. at a push, depending on the time of day and how many people were around.