We also very coincidentally went to the Disney store on Saturday. This might be the second time my kids have ever been to a Disney store, if not even the first. Of course, my middle guy wanted absolutely everything related to Toy Story. He finally decided on a Buzz Lightyear toy. However, in order to get it, he had to convince his brother that they should buy it, as they currently share all of their money. The $15 would have to come out of joint savings. When Erik realized that Buzz was on sale, he quickly acquiesced, not wanting to pass up a good deal. (what a picture into their distinct personalities!) Thus, Buzz entered our family, right before watching the whole series.
In many ways, this movie reminds me of pieces of all of my kids. I suppose that's what makes them such good movies--they have accurately depicted childhood for a lot of kids, and what children would like their toys to actually do! Watching my boys' faces as they watched the movies at home was fun.
They were so excited for the third. They always enjoy going to a movie in the theater, but this was extra. The excitement was built from the marathon. What would happen next? Their imaginations were captured in a big way. Shortly after watching the first, Anders asked for a permanent marker, so that he and Erik could write their names on Buzz's feet.
What was also interesting to me was Grace, nearly 3. She's always watched movies along with the boys, and enjoyed them. This includes all of the Star Wars movies. See how my standards slip, the more children I have? Erik was not allowed to watch Star Wars, in spite of Carl's longing to share it with him, until he was 6. Anders was, at the time, 4, and he watched it right along with him. Earlier than I think was probably wise, but waiting another two years seemed hard to do. And it certainly was made for boys like him, as he became obsessed after just the briefest clip. Actually, Anders fell in love with Star Wars just from the music. Carl received a birthday card that played a music clip, and just from listening to that card, Anders knew he wanted to watch the movies. Of course, it's not disputed that John Williams is a genius, is it?
At any rate, then, Grace began watching Star Wars as soon as she was old enough to pay any attention while the boys were watching. This leads to a 2-year-old who loves Yoda and engages in lightsaber duels against her brothers. She's certainly never been scared during the shows.
The first movie in the theater that she watched and enjoyed was The Princess and the Frog. As Anders had fallen for Star Wars, so did she fall for Tiana. To the point where she can quote movie lines, sometimes makes her dolls into Prince Naveen and Princess Tiana, and tells anyone who asks that it's her favorite. Even at 2 1/2 she really got the movie, and kept talking about how Dr. Facilier was "scary".
She watched Toy Story 2 while sitting on my lap so I could do her hair. She commented several times that it was scary. I assumed she was just patterning off of Anders. He's my sensitive guy. He gets scared easily in movies, and even books. Scared during the typically scary parts, that are meant to be scary, but also scared when someone is making a wrong choice, or about to get into trouble. We don't try to talk him out of being scared, most of the time, but acknowledge that it's scary, and try to describe what feels scary for him. In this way, Grace has heard a lot about being scared during movies, and at first it just seemed she was repeating this language. As it went on, though, it started to seem to me that she perhaps was actually comprehending more of the sequence of the movie, and it actually was scary to her. This seems like somewhat of a developmental milestone to me, though I'm not sure at what age kids normally start to "get" movies in this way.
Now that I've set the stage, I will wait to capture their reactions during Toy Story 3 in the next post.
