For my 6 and 11 year old to watch a film at the cinema without me

I think you just go and let your children enjoy it even if you don’t. It’s not that long and you can’t send a 6 year old alone or expect your 11 year old to look after them. It doesn’t matter if the cinema is huge or small, it’s just not something someone should do. The cinema may also not allow it either.
You could try listen to a podcast or attempt to read a book.

We did this when I was an usherette in the 90s. Not a man Jack of us was DBS checked (if that was even a thing then), most of us were teenage girls with no experience of little kids, the films we showed ranged from Jurassic Park (!) to Jason and the Argonauts, and parents used to dump entire families of kids on us and then head into town, before the days of mobile phones.

I normally just fall asleep but Sonic 3 kept my interest

I also think there's a bit of pearl clutching here

Not really. I’d think it obviously an unsafe place. Think about it. Kiddo’s films probably attract paedo’s. Unaccompanied kids would likely make their day. If you are happy with one coming and plonking themselves down besides your kids after the movie starts, well ……

Being bored out of your mind IS part of parenting.

Reading Rainbow effing Faries or Beast Quest or David Walliams books every night for a year. Freezing yourself to hypothermia at the side of a sports pitch each Sunday morning in winter. Practicing their spellings. Drinking bad coffee in noisy soft play centres for yet another birthday party.

And yes, watching shite films they are excited about.

I'd do it regardless. I'd TRY not to be next to anyone else (or next to only my children) but...

The alternative is that I'd fall asleep, and then the child isn't supervised (this has happened accidentally with me before).

I started going to the cinema on my own when I was about 11 or 12 but that was with friends and certainly with no younger siblings. I went to the cinema with DC1 last week and they are nearly 7 and there’s no way they would have been ok going alone with a group of 11 year olds. I know we all have these passing thoughts, it’s normal, but if you really sit and think sensibly about it you’ll realise it’s not a good idea.

This so crazy, absolutely no way. Where I live, it's a criminal offence to leave a child under 12 without proper supervision, and you're at the mercy of a Magistrate who decides what is appropriate under the circumstances. The law is this way for a reason...it's all well and good when everything is going well, but kids under 12 lack problem solving skills so when things go wrong, they can go really wrong.
Go to the movie with the kids as parents should.

I guess I'm lucky that I enjoy most kids films. Though I have to say I really appreciate now my youngest being 16 and enjoying the Bridget Jones films together.

It’s an hour and a half of your day. Just go and watch it. Ps I watched it the other day, a few laughable bits but I was more happy that my kids (who are growing up too fast) still want to be with me at the cinema.

I saw this film the other day with my son and it's not remotely scary.

It's shockingly awful but that's a different thing.

I thought it was ok! I've sat through much much worse 😂

Lean into their interests now and they will share their interests with you when they are older.

So, you do realise pedophiles love kids films at the cinema and the opportunity to spot unsupervised children? It only takes the 11yo to nip to the loo because they’re desperate for your 6yo to go missing.

You’re a parent. Do your job. I regularly go to the cinema with my kids (now teens) in the spirit of ‘doing something as a family’ and if I find the film absolutely dreadful I just close my eyes and pop noise excluding earbuds in. And they rib me for it over dinner afterwards.

It was absolutely shite but I'm afraid it's one of those parenting times where you have to grin and bare it! Way too young to be leaving in the cinema op.

Absolutely not. They might be sitting next to a paedophile at worst. At best you 6 year old might be screaming and shouting with fear. Everyone will be wondering where his mum is.
Get someone else to take them. I usually ask my sister.

This ^ would be ok - different age and set up. In our cinema you would see most exits so if they were upset or confused or wanted something you would see them easily. Going to another screen and looking for your mum is quite a different matter.
It’s parenting for you. I bet you are not going to playground or soft play to enjoy equipment yourself, the same principle applies to a cinema visit.

I think 6 years old is too young I’m afraid. But I understand where you’re coming from. I still remember a My Little Pony film that was particularly unbearable!

I’d sit in the lobby of a couple of local cinemas - the Everyman and the curzon both have big lobbies with a nice bar etc where you can see people come out the screens and you can see the loos. But I’d be worried that 6yo would take a notion to go to the loo or come and find me and would get turned around and lost etc. so I wouldn’t sit in another screen, I’d want eyes on the cinema door. I wouldn’t do it at the big odeon which has loads and loads of screens and toilets.
Having said that I think my children would find it a bit disconcerting and sad. Mum would rather literally sit outside this screen looking at her phone than in here with us. Feels a bit desolate somehow.

😂🤷‍♀️ This reminds of when some parents leave their young children to sit together on a plane, when the parents sit elsewhere (sometimes in a different class). Not shocking parenting these days, but definitely not good parenting.

Wear earphones and listen to a podcast or audio book. That's how I get through movies my kids want to watch at the cinema that I have zero interest in (and my youngest is year 5!)