I have not watched a movie at the theatre ever since I became a dad. Yes, I know there are the term-break holidays, but why would I opt for an interaction-free movie when I finally get to meet up with friends and satisfy my hunger for an once-vibrant social life?

There’s one layer of sacrifice.

Owing to the elections, I got to enjoy one school holiday today. There is nothing else I would like better than sing my lungs out during karaoke. But I did the responsible fatherly thing.

I took my son to watch Minecraft.

As movies go, it wasn’t too bad, I guess. Though I was more entertained by how the riveted primary school audience managed to exclaim the signature lines at the same time in one voice. I got an inkling of how my son would turn out to be like.

Even their animated responses weren’t enough for me to resist shutting my eyes for five minutes. But no, it wasn’t maddeningly boring.

That’s my second layer of sacrifice. The first movie I watched at the theatre after a hiatus of five years was a kids’ movie whose world I was ignorant (and didn’t care) about.

Nonetheless, it was an uneventful maiden trip for the son. Sat on his seat throughout, didn’t ask to go to the loo, asked to rewatch it the moment we stepped out of the cinema. Things could have been worse.