The first time should be special.

Last night was Family Movie Night.  We let the kids move their bean bags into the living room, fired up not one but TWO things of jiffy-pop(23 months without a microwave!) and started watching one of my favorite movies, Jurassic Park.

Before the movie even started, by older daughter was asking why it was called Jurassic Park if some of the dinosaurs were actually from the Cretaceaous Period.  I attempted to explain 'artisitic license' to her, but eventually my wife and I both agreed that the correct answer to most of her questions would be 'Because it's a movie, honey'.

I figured my girls would enjoy the movie...I mean, my younger one thinks dinosaurs are cool, while the older one is a certified dinosaur nut.  It was a good guess on my part, although I think one of my daughters favorite scenes was the actual paleontology dig at the beginning...'Daddy, they are looking for dinosaurs!'  I have tried to explain the ramen noodle eating, porta-potty using realities of being a paleontologist, but...hey, she thinks it's neat.  As she gets older, I might need to keep an eye out for volunteer opportunities so she can live the dream.

Back to the movie though, and my kids reaction to it.  There was a slight concern on my part that it might be too intense in some scenes for my kids, and there were several times when my 6-year old ended up with her head buried against my wife, a pose I remember from the first time I watched Poltergeist.  It was just blind luck that yesterday was also the girls first soccer games, and when it was time for bed, our youngest was so tired there was no 'I'm too scared' moments. 

While they both enjoyed it, and thought it was neat, I don't think they were as blown away as I was when I first saw it in High School....but, then I realized, they are spoiled. 

For me, prior to Jurassic Park, there was only Land of the Lost.  Going from Marshall, Will and Holly to what Spielberg did was...simply amazing, and mind blowing.  Thanks to THX, the theater shook when the T-Rex roared. 

My daughters have been fed fed themselves a steady diet of Walking with Dinosaurs type shows on Netflix for the last three years...and the CGI on those shows that they have come to accept as the 'norm' is pretty close to what Spielberg shocked us all with in the early 90's.

The end result was a good time had by all, with all 4 of us snuggled on the couch for about half the movie.  Plus, I now have my own DVD copy of Jurassic Park.