Mom’s Night Out

Have you guys seen this movie?? If you’re a mom, if you homeschool, if you plan to homeschool, if you stay at home, if you work but want to stay at home, if you work and you want to work but you can’t seem to juggle everything, if you have even one kid…you need to see this movie! The first time I planned to see this movie, it was in the theaters still. My sister and I had arranged an actual mom’s night out. We each have one child, and our husbands were watching them, after much orchestration. I even had to drive to a wedding my husband was attending to drop off my toddler, so he could take over watching her, so we wouldn’t miss the movie. I had searched online and found that it was playing at a certain theater in town. Alright! We had heard that it was hilarious, and we were excited.

We arrive at the theater. We get to the window. We ask for tickets. The bored teenager behind the counter says in a monotone voice, “That movie isn’t playing here.”

I blink.

“Okay…but it was listed online…”

“That must be wrong because it’s not playing here.”

My sister and I look at each other and walk away. The frustration of trying to make a night out happen settled over me. The hopes of watching a highly anticipated movie were crushed. It wasn’t playing anywhere else in town. The online website said it was playing here. At the risk of being that customer, I pulled up the website on my phone, walked back to the window and showed it to Bored Teenager. I don’t know why I did this. In hopes of them just playing the movie for us? Since we had driven all the way down there to see a specific movie? Because we had arranged childcare? Because it was highly disappointing to be told it wasn’t playing? In an effort to “win” a sort of argument?

I don’t know why I did it. I guess to show Bored Teenager that I was right and she was wrong.   At any rate, we left. After looking at all the other movies playing, we decided that nothing else was good enough. We were so disappointed. We started driving aimlessly. My sister needed gas. We stopped for gas. I was hungry, so we thought maybe we’d go eat. Then we decided to stop at Fresh Market because we’re both into organic, healthy living and going into a store like Fresh Market will always lift our spirits because we want to buy everything. Literally, everything. We moseyed around, picked out some awesome chocolate, picked out some awesome cheese, combed over the entire store for over an hour, and left feeling happy and contented. We munched on chocolate and cheese on the drive home. We were able to turn the evening around. 🙂

Little did I know the resemblance between our mom’s night out and the movie that we weren’t able to see! I finally rented it on Amazon Prime after forgetting about the movie for months. I laughed so hard! And I cried. I related to it so much. Even though the main character has three kids and I have one. What Bones said to Allyson in the police station was just what I needed to hear: “Ya’ll spend so much time beating yourselves up. It must be exhausting. I reckon the Lord knew what He was doing when He gave your kids the mama he did. So you just be you, and He’ll take care of the rest.” Wow. So simple. So profound.

To watch the movie online through Amazon Prime, click here: Mom’s Night Out

I’ve watched the movie at least five times. I needed to watch it that much, I think, if not just to memorize what Bones said. I just quoted him from memory! I want to always remember this. To stop being my own worst critic, to let go of the fear of getting it all wrong with parenting…and not just parenting! All of life. I want to remember that God is enough. That He will always provide. That even though circumstances look hopeless (with health, with finances…you name it), He is bigger than the circumstances. He is enough. All I need to do is trust Him!

I’d love to hear what you thought of the movie! Share your thoughts in the comment section below.