Forgive me for the continued obsession over my daughters’ graveyard schedules; going to bed in the wee hours of the morning, getting up by the time their dad gets home from work. I just don’t like this newly acquired bad adult habit. I would like to converse with them before it gets dark; maybe plan a family outing or something that doesn’t include star gazing.

I wanted to go to a movie with my husband and kids last weekend. My oldest has been working a lot lately and I was waiting for her to have a day off; she was finally free on Sunday. I looked up the movie schedule online the night before and reviewed the times with my youngest daughter: 11:15, 4:45, and 10:15.

She chose the 4:45. I hate a movie in the afternoon on a Sunday. I like to be deep into my recliner by then, planning my week. I wanted to see the earliest possible showing, then have the rest of the day to do whatever I wanted. I noticed it was also playing in 3D at 2. I’m not a fan of 3D, because after about 10 minutes, I don’t see the difference. But that time seemed like a happy medium and compromise is my middle name (not really, but I try).

Sunday morning, I woke up at 7:30, went out to the patio, and browsed Facebook on my phone while my husband fixed me breakfast. I saw that my youngest daughter had last posted at 4 and 5 in the morning; just a mere two or three hours from the moment I had arisen.

Even a 2 o’clock showing was probably too early for her. Disappointed, I told my husband about her early morning posting and then ran the movie times by him. He was fine with the 4:45 showing because he could see the possibilities of getting things done in the morning, then wrapping up his weekend with a family movie.

All I could think of was the day my youngest could finally sit still in a dark theater for a full length movie. She was 5 and we saw Piglet’s Big Movie, with her sitting on the edge of her seat, clinging to the chair in front of her, she was so enthralled. As the credits rolled, she declared the movie “better than the snacks.”

I guess I mourned their childhoods and a time I was in charge of their schedules, which did not include five a.m. Facebook posts. These days my husband and I usually go to the movies without our daughters as our preferences are different from theirs. They’d rather see them with their friends, anyway, and we’re only invited to go when they need us to pay.

The BFG (Big Friendly Giant) was a book they both read as second graders with their class, and for my oldest, a school field trip to see it performed at the Seattle Children’s Theater. There is a lot of sentiment tied around this great work by Roald Dahl. I think it’s probably the first whole chapter book they both remember reading. So it’s only fitting that we should view the movie as a family. It’s almost out of the theaters now, and is only showing at the cheap theater in Federal Way. Time was a wasting.

Somehow, because of my desire to see a special movie as a family, our parent/child roles were reversed. I became like the child, anticipating the rising of my parents on Christmas morning – “Are you awake? Is it time? How about now?”

Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. You can read more of her writing and her blog on her websitelivingwithgleigh.com, on Facebook at “Living with Gleigh.”or follow her on Twitter @livewithgleigh. Her column is available every week atmaplevalleyreporter.com under the Lifestyles section.