The boy just loves stories. On our family vacation in Florida last year he wore everyone out with his repeated requests to hear their stories over and over again. We read him so many books that bindings are caving in and disintegrating around here at an unfortunate rate (especially for Jackie). Tonight on the car ride home, I flipped it over to the classical station and Peter and the Wolf (a song that alternates between narration and symphony) came on. He didn't speak for the 50 minute commute. And it sounds charming, but unless you're willing to put him in front of a screen and leave him there, meeting his unyielding demand to be constantly entertained is totally exhausting.
I grew up in a wonderful time in America called the 90's. We were lucky enough to have a 32 inch color television with a remote and a subscription to HBO. Here are some of the movies that I watched before I could multiply or divide: Predator, Die Hard, Poltergeist, The Abyss, Rambo Part 1 (Rambo vs the Police), Rambo Part 2 (Rambo goes back to Vietnam), Rambo Part 3 (Rambo joints the Taliban to fight Russians). The "previous channel" button was also introduced around this time. Mom's in the kitchen meant R rated action movie. Mom starts walking toward the TV room, just flip it back to PBS. And so began my love of movies. And from the minute we found out we were pregnant, I think I've been most excited to watch movies with him. I've seen these movies hundreds of times, but getting to watch them for the first time with him makes it all brand new again.
Tom started with Finding Nemo when he stayed home sick one day. It was one of the only kids movies we had at the time. Then we started expanding our Disney collection. He's seen The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Robin Hood, 101 Dalmatians, and here's what I've learned about the classic Disney film series:
1) These are timeless films that are as poignant and hilarious and as well designed as anything made today and can be enjoyed by people, young, old and in between over and over again, which is really the true brilliance of the Disney brand
2) All parents are thrown into 2 groups: a) abusive, neglectful monsters or b) kindhearted folks who are killed before you can finish the top layer of your popcorn
3) They cost a minimum of 20 damn dollars each
We've also spent a good deal of time watching and re-watching some of the newer popular films like the Toy Stories, The Incredibles, Big Hero 6, the How Do You Train Your Dragon movies, and I'm proud to say he enjoys them all. I like to tell myself he's a true connoisseur, like myself and appreciates film excellence from all eras and not that he's a motion picture addict, like myself; someone who will be equally engrossed by both The Godfather and Gremlins.
We got into a little bit of a bad habit during the summer of watching a new movie every night, but quickly realized our error and have reverted to the regally schedule of Friday night movies once again. After going through the better part of the children's wing of the O'Connor film library, we decided it was time to take him to the theatre to see How Do You Train Your Dragon ONE, a movie he's seen probably 10 times combined in parts and as a whole.
He loved it as much as I hoped he would. The dark room, the gigantic screen. The volume. His face lit up when the Dreamworks logo rolled through, which is the same way I feel when my favorite movies start. He was totally enraptured by it and if the building would have caught on fire, it would still have been a real struggle to get him out of his seat. Despite knowing the movie inside and out, he covered his eyes at the first semi-scary part, which helped me to remember how different it is to watch something on a 50 inch screen 12 feet away than it is to watch something on a 5000 inch screen 15 feet away. We all left on a high note and discussed it later that night over dinner, which ultimately led to the following:
Tom: Can we watch How Do You Train Your Dragon 2, tonight?
Me: No, sonny. No more movies today... Besides, I want to watch a grown up movie next time.
Tom: What's a grown up movie?
Me: Uh, I don't know, a movie like Lethal Weapon.
Tom: What's Weethal Weapon?
Me: It's a great movie about two cops who have to solve a case and then become friends.
Tom: What case?
Me: A girl fell off a tall building and they have to find out what happened to her.
Tom: What happened to her?
Me: Well, I don't wan to ruin the movie but Roger Murtaugh and Martin Riggs are policeman partners and Murtaugh gets a phone call from his friend Michael Hunsacker saying that his daughter fell off a building and he wants Roger to find out who pushed her.
Tom: Who is Michael Hunsacker?
Me: Roger's friend from the Vietnam War.
Tom: What's a Vietnam War?
Me: Buddy, I'm just gonna go fire up How Do You Train Your Dragon 2, okay? Hang tight.
That was a week ago and we're still talking about Weethal Weapon.
So, I've got my movie partner and that's pretty great for me.
Jackie is doing great too. He had his second palate surgery a few weeks ago and is almost all the way recovered. He's still doing his patented 3-point crawl, but he's also standing up unassisted for a few seconds at a time. We think he'll take his first steps any day now, but one of the benefits of being second-born is that all of these milestones have a lot less pressure on them. Jack smiles as much as any baby I've ever seen and has a very easy laugh. And he loves his Mama... oh my, do both of these boys love their Mama. Jack's preference goes Mom, a Grandma, Thomas, Passersby on the street, solitude, then finally me if I absolutely insist. But lucky for me, one of the benefits of being a father of two, is that I remember this phase from a few years ago. I'll see you in a few months Jackie. You'll think I'm way cool then.
