Grease is the Word

What a lovely night for a movie, in the fading sunlight with my girls and my dad, and it was Grease! What a treat!

Wonderful WGC have for the past few summers put on an open air cinema in the town centre, over a three day period. They show three movies a day and to be honest have a great selection. This week we have had loads going on, with trying to get things down before the end of the holidays and actually going on holiday so we have not made it to a couple that we fancied, but tonight there was no way I was missing out on introducing my girls to Grease!

It actually seemed strange to me that they had not seen it, I mean everyone has seen Grease right?! But they are five and seven and to be fair are Disney, and You Tube obsessed, like most their age. So tonight was the night.

We took Dad with us as well, so I loaded up the car with chairs, blankets and things to keep the girls amused incase they did not like the movie. They are doing loads of road alterations in town, meaning I could not drive along to the entrance to offload Dad. He is really struggling with his walking so I wanted to make it as accessible as possible for him. I managed to get a spot on the road opposite the exit, and the lovely lady let me get him and the girls in that way, get them set up and I shot off to properly park.

We had a great space, plenty of room for what seemed like the ridiculous amount of stuff that you need to take out with you to keep everyone happy / amused / warm. Once they were all settled and amassed I went off to get them food. Its so well done, the movie is free and you can literally bring in food and drinks so its really and accessible / affordable event for everyone. Dad fancied a cheeky KFC so that was him and the girls sorted.

Within the area that was set up for the movie, they have a popup cabin, selling drinks, sweets, popcorn etc. I was amazed as to how reasonably priced it was. Obviously the girls wanted endless snacks, and these things always get expensive. What started out as a cheap night out suddenly becomes pricey. But how wrong was I. We we were sat super close to it, so when Hallie as kid if she could go get herself some popcorn, she was excited to be able to be ‘grown up’ and to go and get it by herself. I sent her off with £10 not expecting to see it again, thirty seconds later (we really were right by it – in case anyone is now thinking I am a terrible mother for letting her go by herself!) back she comes clutching £6 closely followed by the lady who served her, who carried over two popcorns for her so she didn’t spill it. So kind of her. I was amazed, just £2 each for popcorn, it was over £8 at another Open Air Cinema I went to a while ago. Well done Wonderful WGC. Dad also went over to get them all some sweets a little later – any excuse – and the large bags of sweets were also I think only £2 each, again really reasonably price. But equally had a family wanted to pre buy and come in with all their own snacks, that was totally fine too. In a time when even breathing seems expensive for people I think this is so lovely. As a single mama there have been times when I have had to say no, mummy can’t afford that today, and I’m not talking about the big things here or the expensive things, and it really sucks. There are many families, couples and individuals who have that daily, and that’s so tough. So to essentially be able have a free afternoon / evening watching a movie is so lovely, and I imagine there have been many a happy parent this week, relieved that another day in the school holidays is not crippling their bank balance further. So a huge well done to the Wonderful WGC team.

So back to the movie – we loved it! Need I say more, its Grease after all, the movie that you know pretty much all the lines too, and sing along to every song. Its a classic! I did find myself giving the girls a running commentary initially as to what was going on and who was who. They wanted to know why Danny was mean to Sandy, and didn’t think that was nice – I’m obviously doing something right with my parenting. But as they got into it they were clearly figuring it out and Hallie started to tell me what was going on which was sweet. They have talked none stop about it since, and keep asking when they can watch ‘Crease’ again. Bless them. It was so lovely too see so many people bopping about in their seats and singing along. Some brave souls were up on their feet dancing too, not going to lie I was a little envious.

Lets talk accessibility, this is always a thing for us, and something I am keen to address as we travel around. I had dad with me who is really struggling to walk and Ruby, who much like Grayson cannot manage a queue, or hanging around. She is also anxious about noise and crowds – I can totally relate to that all too. But having masked my adhd for 44 years, I can cope a little better than she does, but really why should I have to struggle on / mask anymore. We are in a world that needs to be kinder and needs to be more accessible. For a pop up event, honestly this could not have been better. It was ticketless, so we could not even ask for assistance in advance. It was going to have to be a turn up and wing it situation. However as I previously mentioned, it could not have been better, I dropped off / unloaded Dad and the girls at one of the exits, and was able to set up their seats. We were able to take in our own seating – camping chairs / blankets that type of thing, and as we were there early, we found a great space with a path infront of us – that nobody was going to be allowed to sit on, so it would not feel crowded as we would have the space in front of us. At this point I’d not mentioned any additional needs, the amazing volunteers / team had just seen that Dad was less mobile and went out of their way to make it easy for us. I honestly could not have wished for more.

As the movie drew to a close, and the masses departed, we hung back, so I could easily pack up and get my lot out in one piece. I was amazed at how quickly the volunteers got everything cleaned up. Talk about speedy.