Moms’ Night Out movie- Jodi’s Review

I’m a mom, and I’m a blogger, but I’m not a Mommy Blogger. Oh, I have a Mommy Blog. It’s in my imagination. I write my posts in the shower. They’re all rants, and they’re all directed at the writers of those creepy, judgy things shared on Facebook. You know, the “I was spying on you in *insert name of public place where you were a) taking a break or b) dealing with a normal toddler*, you were parenting wrong, you’ve ruined your children, you’re a failure” type posts.

My Imaginary Mommy Blog is not edifying. It gets pretty angry. I personally have no idea how to defeat this weird, dark, very personal attack on moms that is seeping into our culture other than to turn around and be as cruel and critical as the authors of these things. So I keep my Mommy Blog in my imagination and I blog about food instead.I remember how beautiful my 80s prom dress was and how fast time flies.

Thankfully, someone else has noticed this twist towards bringing moms down, and they figured out exactly what to do about it. They made a movie.

{A little sidebar here, when I first heard about Moms’ Night Out, I decided I didn’t want to see it. I interpreted the description like this: “A stressed out mom goes out for the night with her friends and leaves her helpless kids with her moron husband, hilarity ensues.” Not something I could relate to at all. My husband is not a moron. He’s an engineer and a pastor and an extremely competent father. I’m not stressed out. (Okay, I’m stressed out, but I had premie colicky twins so my stress bar is pretty high), and frankly, a movie about moms leaving the house just sounded lame. But I love Baton Rouge Moms and really want to support them in every event they put on and I really wanted an excuse to actually have a moms night out, and there was popcorn, so I saw the movie. If you’re hesitant about seeing a “movie about moms” I feel ya. Sidebar over.}

Moms’ Night Out was seriously one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in ages, is almost as great as the wolf children full movie. Funny in the just plain funny way and absolutely funny in the “it’s funny because it’s true” way. This is a movie you need to see with other moms, preferably in a theater full of other moms so you don’t drive everyone else crazy. Our theater was just other moms and I could hear people whispering things during the movie, “oh my goodness, that reminds me of when so and so…” and we were all laughing because we’d all come out of our room at some point to “breakfast” made by our preschoolers or some other disaster. I laughed so hard I was choking. I’m still cracking up over it today. (Me: laughing. Husband: what’s so funny? Me: laughing and choking he killed mamma!! Husband: raised eyebrow)

But even better was how this movie affirmed moms. Better than being a candle in this dark and judgmental world, Moms’ Night Out is a blowtorch. It blasts the message, you are NOT a failure. Your house is a wreck, you spent half an hour on your Iphone at the park, yes, you even bought that screaming preschooler the $20 stuffed animal to shut her up (okay, that last one was all me, the other ones too, but the last one is probably somebody’s next Facebook post so I’m coming clean now) but you are the MOST important person in the world, at least to one person.

And your importance doesn’t end when your kids are teens. Moms of teens (and teen moms!) will get something out of this too.

No guilt, no judgment, no “cherish them now they grow up so fast,” just a recognition that this mom thing can be brutal and exhausting. And this mom thing is important.

You’re important.

The characters in Moms Night Out are real and believable, the moms aren’t crazy and the dads aren’t morons, and no matter what stage of parenting you’re at or position you’re in, you’ll find you relate to someone. This movie will tug at your heart, make you see your life and your kids (even your teens) with fresh eyes and will make you appreciate the real, lasting difference you are making. You will cry, just a little bit.

Please take a mom to see this movie. If you are a mom, see this movie. Let’s use it to tear down this darkness and start building up ourselves and each other.

For more information on Moms’ Night Out, visit the official site, momsnightoutmovie.com