Thursday, February 5, 2009

Helo Mom Dispatch #18 - Chick Flick Pick

The still "unofficial" youngsters [the non-couple that spends every spare moment together in person, texting, or on the phone] are currently in negotiations for Valentine's Day plans.

Athlete would like to take Princess to dine at any restaurant she chooses. She would rather not do this because: 1) she is not allowed to date "Duh, mom, a dinner date is a date!"; 2) she is not allowed to go in a car with a boy unless and until she is old enough to drive herself home [NB: we have offered to relax the transportation rules where the Athlete is concerned because, well, he's uniquely trustworthy...within reason. Read on....]; and 3) that's too "public" for her - they are keeping the extent of their association to themselves and away from the prying eyes and inappropriate comments and innuendoes of their respective senior and freshmen classmates. [How they will manage this after the Big Dance this weekend is anyone's guess, but we'll get to that later...]

So she has suggested that they "order in" and have a private night together, watching romantic movies here at our house. Both sides appealed to me for my input and ultimate verdict - I think it's a splendid plan. Parents, little sister, curious baby, love-seeking dogs and Jack the Lap-cat will all be there to make sure they behave themselves. Athlete wanted to know if there could be an even split - a guy movie and a chick flick. We are working on this, but in the meantime, Princess has been trying to persuade him to watch Pride and Prejudice with her. He was groaning about it, but ready to give in, so I asked (jokingly): "Which one? The 5-hour BBC version or the 2-hour Keira Knightley one?"

Him [suddenly perky]: "There's a 5-hour one?"

Me [somewhat bemused]: "Yeeaahhh...why? Is that a good thing?"

Him [with a decidedly cheeky grin]: "Hmmmm...let's see. I have a choice between spending two or five hours curled up on the couch with your daughter on Valentine's Day. Which one do you think I'm gonna pick?!?"

Helo Mom curses herself for being slow on the uptake, yet cannot help but laugh - this kid is quick on his size 16 feet, and just too darn cute for his own good.

5 comments:

Kasia said...

Oh, the 5-hour A&E/BBC one is the ONLY one to go with. Keira Knightley only WISHES she could be Elizabeth Bennett...and the 1985 Beeb one, while strikingly true to the book, has that overtly low-budget look to it that just ruins the whole feel of the movie. (That, and their Mr. Darcy spends most of the movie looking like a waxwork.) Colin Firth leaves something to be desired as Darcy, but he's the least-worst I've seen so far.

Kit said...

Oh I agree, Kasia! (And yes...I have them all....)

And here's one from deep in the vault...have you ever seen the Laurence- Olivier-as-Darcy version from the '30's? The Bennets in hoopskirts (it was part of the Gone With the Wind craze...)

Shockingly bad, but campy enough that you end up getting a good laugh out of it in the end.

Kasia said...

NO! ...I feel an addition to my Netflix queue coming on... :-p

Packrat said...

Msg to Mom - Gotta watch those trust-worthy ones. LOL

Kit said...

HM to Packrat: Oh, I am...a hovermother like no other! Fortunately, he's quite good-natured about it. He tells me more about what's going on than she does sometimes (like the potential mono exposure - that was pretty funny!). A good kid.