Dear Kids,
A few weeks ago Grammie and I went on a shopping trip to buy clothes for you. We found and bought many nice things, and I now have two of the best-dressed kids in the world. But with Marshall out of toddler sizes, finding cute pajamas for him was difficult. We had to settle for some movie-themed pajamas that were sold in pairs. We chose an R2-D2/Darth Vader pair.
I knew that Marshall wouldn’t recognize those characters. But it also occurred to me that (wow!) Marshall was probably older than I was when I first saw Star Wars. So I decided that you and I should watch the movie together.
A few days later, I borrowed Star Wars from the library. We popped some popcorn and settled down to watch it. There were a couple of rough patches, like when Luke finds that his home has been destroyed. It’s a disturbing scene. Marshall suggested that Luke’s aunt and uncle had gone to the hospital. I let it go at that.
While that scene might have tainted your enjoyment of the movie somewhat, it wasn’t enough for you to give it up. After watching it once through with me, the two of you watched it at least three more times on your own. You call it “The Robot Movie,” and though it has long since been returned to the library, you still talk about it sometimes.
Having had pretty good success with Star Wars, I let you watch Tron with me. I don’t think it has held up as well as Star Wars has against the passing decades. But Marshall actually likes Tron better. In fact, he threw a fit the other day because we didn’t have the movie anymore. He was absolutely distraught. Feeling sorry for him, I plopped you in the car and took you to the library so that we could borrow the movie again.
The reason that Marshall likes Tron so much is that he’s totally fascinated with the movie’s fictional setting, which we call “Computer Land.” One morning he said to me, “Computer Land is in a lot of computers. You just can’t see it. I’m going to use a big laser to send you to Computer Land!” Later he added, “And I’m going to go to Computer Land, too. The laser will turn me into little pieces and then back into a big piece. Back and forth!”
For the record, Livia also wants to go to “‘Puter Wand,” as she says it, but she prefers “The Robot Movie.”
As for me, I like watching old movies with you. Being with you as you watch them for the first time makes them new again for me. Plus I just love spending time with you.
Love,
Mom