We have taken our daughter to the movie theater a few times before her diagnosis, but we didn’t go often. We are a stream movies at home kind of family. So, we weren’t movie-going experts to begin with. Add in diabetes, and we had a whole new game plan that we had to create.
Frozen 2 was coming out, so that is one movie that we could not wait until it started streaming. **We watched Frozen 2 again like all of America the day it came out on DisneyPlus.**
Here is how we handled our trip to the movie theater with our daughter with diabetes.
Popcorn’s 500 Different Carb Counts
I don’t know about you, but popcorn has never been easy for me to bolus for. Have you ever looked at the nutritional label for popcorn? Unpopped is a ton of carbs, whereas popped is very low in carb.
This is a side-note, but what do you do with unpopped popcorn kernels? How do you eat them? Wouldn’t they just crack your teeth? Please explain this to me.
Back to the popcorn carb counts. I’ve seen a bunch of different carb counts for popcorn. Movie theater popcorn had more carbs in it then the popcorn that we buy for home…according to Google. Also, how much popcorn is in a small, or the kids size that we bought? I tried to search it before we went to the theater, but of course, I couldn’t find an exact amount on the website.
Also, the kids snack pack came with a pack of fruit snacks, which are not individually marked with nutritional information, but we saved those for another time because we snuck in our own snacks….keep reading.
This is not diabetes related, this is just human being related. If you haven’t snuck snacks and/or drinks into a movie, then I don’t think we can be friends. Click To TweetPlease Turn Your Phones Off!
Let’s face it. If you wear a CGM, you have been in a quiet, public place and then BEEP-BEEP-BEEP. Your CGM alerts go off.
Unless you want a bunch of angry parents shhhhh-ing you in the middle of a movie, then you better turn your alerts off. We just put them on vibrate and not completely turned off.
Vibrate is movie theater safe. Loud beeps are not.
Choosing seats near exit for Potty breaks and missing good parts
I don’t know about you, but I have always been an end seat movie theatre guy. Couple reasons why.
- I don’t like feeling stuck in the middle of the row.
- If I have to get up to go to the bathroom or any other reason, it’s a quick exit and you don’t get in anyone’s way.
- If I have to make a fast escape, I can.
We went straight to an end row seat because I just knew she was going to have to use the potty during the movie.
It just so happened to be the part she wanted to see the most, when Elsa went running into the ocean.
**Flashback to when she was first diagnosed. She had to watch videos during every shot she took. She started watching movie trailers and it happened to be right around the time that the Frozen 2 trailer came out and she was obsessed with it. She would keep asking us, “Why is Elsa running into the ocean?” And…we missed the part where Elsa ran into the ocean!**
Sneaking in own juices/snacks Incase of lows
This is not diabetes related, this is just human being related. If you haven’t snuck snacks and/or drinks into a movie, then I don’t think we can be friends.
There is an absolute art to it.
I’m a stuff the pockets, but make it look natural kind of guy. You can not sneak in soda cans though, you will get caught!
Our experience was a pleasure. The kid had fun, we enjoyed the movie and everything was great….except for missing one of the parts of the movie that she was excited to see.
How do you handle going to the movies or theatre? I’d love to hear. Please comment on this post or head on over to Facebook or Instagram to continue the conversation.