Dec 30 2008
Movies with a ADHD 4 year old little girl
Today our Foster Parent Association paid for its members and their children to attend a movie at one of our local movie theathers. Since our association was paying for the group we all had to arrive at the movie theather at the same time, 11:45. Each family then got to pick the movie they wanted to see. I got to choose from Marley and Me, Bedtime Stories or The Tale of Despereaux. Having a 5 year old boy and a 4 year old girl with me and knowing the movie needed to hold the 5 year old’s attention(he’s on meds for his ADHD) I chose Bedtime Stories. That movie, however, did not begin until 1:30 so I had an hour and half to try to keep two children occupied in the lobby of a movie theater. We began with cokes and popcorn and sat with another family waiting for the movie. That lasted for about 10 minutes. My 4 year old managed to get about as much popcorn on the floor as what she ate, and gulped her drink down. She then started to run around the tables. She seems to have trouble understanding that running inside is something we do not do. To redirect her behavior she has to stand beside me for the next little while, something she does not like to do. She prefers her freedom. We decide to leave the lobby and enter the movie theater about 30 minutes before the movie started in hopes the children would get excited about what we were going to see. My 5 year old had no problem and even was able to sit with friends during the show. The 4 year old, well, we jumped up and down in the chair, sat in my lap and kept kicking the chair in front of us, complained about the noise, had to have something to drink, eat more popcorn, and of course, go potty in the middle of the movie. I am not sure she saw much of the movie at all. You may wonder why even bother with taking such an active busy child to a movie. Hopefully with the continual exposure to activities like this, under the proper guidance and supervision, we can help this child learn to focus and enjoy activities without having to begin taking medication for ADHD.
