If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Now that we have two kids, it's rare when Chris and I spend any time with just one of our children.  So when I received a coupon for the Children's Theater Company in Minneapolis, we thought it'd be fun to take Oliver to see a play and let him have a night with mom and dad to himself.  If You Give a Mouse a Cookie was playing and we thought that would be a good one for Oliver to see since he's familiar with the book. 

We'd talked up our big night out to the theater a few days ahead of time.  As I was getting ready for work this morning, I reminded Oliver that when Dad and I returned from work, we'd have dinner and then go to the play.  I must have told him at some point that he'd need to dress up, because he suddenly announced that he wanted to wear his overalls to the play because he wanted to dress as a train conductor.  (He was a train conductor for Halloween last year.) I told him that you don't wear overalls to the theater, to which he insisted that he needed to "dress up."  He'd clearly taken that direction literally!

We weren't sure how a book that takes all of three minutes to read could be turned into a play of one hour and 15 minutes in length, but the Children's Theater surprised us with their adaption of the story and the excellent acting. The plot behind If You Give a Mouse a Cookie was simple enough for our nearly-four-year-old to follow.  A boy and a mouse were the only characters to keep track of and the plot consists of a mouse getting himself into one mess after another.  The portrayal of the mouse's antics were entertaining for adults and children alike watch. 

I was surprised by how interested Oliver was in the play.  Dark theaters have scared him during the few movies or plays we've taken him to, but this time around he was fine if he could sit in one of our laps.  The only thing he didn't like that some scenes were too loud.  We were in the fifth row and during scenes were the mouse and the boy got carried away, Oliver covered his ears.  He willingly returned to the theater after eating a cookie at intermission, but with just minutes to go in the play, he decided he'd had enough.  The mouse was just being too naughty in his words, which means it was way past his bedtime and he'd had enough over-stimulation. 

On the drive over, Oliver had looked sad and he said it was because he missed Soren.  I found it heart-warming to hear how much he wanted to be with his brother, but I think he'd still give his first professional play and a date night with mom and dad two thumb's up.