About the Poll

If you were wondering about the poll in the sidebar I was curious how other people see the situation of kids and movies and attending by themselves. When I posted the poll I had already come down with a ruling for N. As you might guess, he's the one pushing for the autonomy to attend a movie by himself.

So here are my rules, and you can see how they compare to the poll results there:

Since N has shown to be an independent and responsible boy in many ways, I have decided that since he is "almost 10" he may go to a movie without an adult as long as the following rules are followed:
(1) An adult (and anytime I refer to "adult" please understand most of the time it will be me) with N must be at the megaplex also either attending another movie or hanging out in the lobby.
(2) N may only see G and PG rated movies without an adult sitting through every minute of the movie with him. PG-13 movies may be seen only with adult supervision and only after W or I has seen the movie and approved it for his viewing. R movies are out of the question, don't even ask.
(3) N stays within the confines of the movie theater where his movie is being shown except to visit the restroom, or if the theater is being evacuated for an emergency. All snack purchases are to be made prior to entering the theater.
(4) When the movie is over, N is to stay within the lobby area of the megaplex until his adult companion is located.
(5) N will watch the movie without excessive noise and without indulging in inappropriate behavior.
(6) If any of the above rules are violated, N will not be allowed to attend movies without adult supervision until he is very, very old.

Although we have established these rules we haven't tried them out yet. The only movie N has seen since the rules were established is The Dark Knight. Since it's PG-13 I went to see it first, approved it for his viewing, and then took him to see it. It was awesome by the way. I didn't really mind having to see it twice.