One of the biggest challenges you have as a fresh mom is figuring out cool and wicked things to do now that you’re with babe.

I’m a cinephile. I studied film. I worked for Film Festivals. I wanted to be an actor. One of my favourite activities pre-baby was catching a film at the Royal or catching the latest blockbuster only so I could rip it when discussing it with friends. Suddenly you have a baby and the movie-going privilege gets ripped away from you. Nowhere is it cool to bring your baby to the theatre. Unless you’re in the Caribbean where you can still smoke in movie theatres whilst holding your baby in one arm and your Carib beer in the other. But that’s a story for another day. Back to North America where taking baby to see Vicky Cristina Barcelona while trying to hide them in your baby sling is not acceptable.

In the beginning I panicked. Will I ever see another film on the big screen that doesn’t star Nemo? Will anyone ever make a children’s film that isn’t Disney?

At first I thought I’d found my solution. Cineplex offers up ‘Stars and Strollers’– once a week they have a special screening for parents with babies.Current offerings include Date Night and Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too.  The Stars and Strollers option is great if you’ve got a tiny baby and you don’t really care about what you’re seeing. They offer a change table inside the theatre and stroller parking.

When baby got a little too big for Stars and Strollers—she started walking and talking and wouldn’t sit through any Steve Carell film for the life of her we thought we found our second solution: the drive-in! That’s right folks, the good ol’ drive-in still exists and is only a 30 minute drive from the city. The 5 Drive-in in Oakville is like visiting a time machine. Minus servers on roller-skates it’s all there. In authentic 50’s retro style they have a diner that serves cotton candy, popcorn and hotdogs with reasonable prices. Kids under 5 are free and they even play cartoon shorts before the feature film. Selection is amazing and the kids can go bananas without anyone batting an eye at you.  If you haven’t been to a drive-in in ages, do it! Check out http://www.5drivein.com/ for more info. But as much as I love the drive-in, all the film offerings are blockbuster studio movies –nothing arty and nothing smart or arty for children.

Lucky for all in-the-know parents, this weekend marks the start of the Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children. This festival simply rocks. With 68 films, representing 23 countries and 20 languages, it’s a chance for the entire family to travel without leaving the city. I test-drove some of the short films (short films are perfect for toddlers short attention spans!) on my 2 year-old and she was mesmerized. I know the film is recommended for 3 year-olds and up but damn it I fell in love with them myself.  I cried during Stoneflies-a beautifully crafted short about a rock that hopes to fly one day. I laughed during Tweetlings, a Danish short about two birds, Sille and Saxe on four sweet adventures. Suri sat through all the shorts without budging. She loved the interesting sounds of the new languages she was hearing and the stories were so strong she’s asked me twice now to watch them over again.

During Sprockets the foreign films for younger children are presented with a voice actor who reads the subtitles so the audience can keep up. It’s the best way to expose your little one to a new language, a new culture and brilliant film from around the world. If you’re not into foreign film do not fear there is a slew of films in English, there are documentaries and even film workshops for older children. The Guerilla Filmmaking workshop makes me wish I was 13 years old again.

If you’ve never been to Sprockets with your children you are depriving them. The programming is so strong that as a cinephile you’ll get your dose of smart film in the process. No compromises. The kids get cool, fun, interesting movies they’ll likely not see in a big theatre and you get to enjoy smart cinema.

I’ve found my heaven and my solution to a movie-less existence. Now if only they could offer up Sprockets screenings year round!

New mom? Young mom? Cool mom? Introduce your kids to the wonderful world of festival film. Check out www.sprockets.ca, runs beginning this Saturday April 17th until April 23rd.