We're in the middle of a giant Star Wars lovefest. Some four- and five-year-old boys seem to get really caught up in these movies/stories. The light sabers ("life savers" to most little boys) capture their attention in a time when gun/fight play and good-guys-vs-bad-guys play is at a peak, and every year at our preschool, there's a new crop of little boys who are obsessed with all things light sabery. They want to make their own sabers, they want to know everything there is to know about Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader (AKA "Darf Vader," AKA "Dark Vader"). My older two had only a very mild interest in Star Wars. We had one clone costume that was given to Griff, but it didn't really catch on...until the youngest boy approached four and he and his best friend both suddenly exploded into full-on Star Wars Mania. We finally judged the kids old enough to watch the original three movies (no prequels yet...gotta keep 'em pure). Episode IV is now in frequent rotation and Return of the Jedi is a budding favorite. For some reason we haven't seen The Empire Strikes Back yet. Gotta remedy that.
The Star Wars joy is giving me a lot to smile about lately, like:
(-o-) Hearing the music from the last scene of Episode IV and remembering how my husband insisted on playing The Throne Room for our wedding recessional, and the laughs it got out of guests when they realized what the music was.
(-o-) Coming downstairs at the end of the movie to find son #2 wearing the hand-me-down clone costume (appropriate SW-viewing attire), and then having a discussion about appropriate clone footwear.
(-o-) My friend seeing piles of clothing left on the floor by son #2, who disrobes immediately upon returning home, and calling them "dead Kenobis." Son #2 starting to call his own clothing piles dead Kenobis. Feeling tempted every time I come across a pile to pat it with my foot.
(-o-) Kids bonding with the across-the-street neighbors over light-up saber battles in the dark.
(-o-) TIE fighter emoticon!
(-o-) Determining that the correct pronunciation of AT-AT is not to say the letters A-T-A-T, but rather to say it like it rhymes with cat-cat. Sorry kids, your parents were right. Don't mess with the children of the '70s when it comes to Episode IV-VI trivia.
(-o-) Being asked to look up the two-legged Imperial walker. (FYI, it's an All-Terrain Scout Transport, or AT-ST, AKA "chicken walker")
(-o-) Wookiepedia. Awwww, yeah.
(-o-) SW meets Facebook (top, thanks to Ann) and inspirational parody (bottom, thanks to Andrew)
(-o-) How totally STOKED the kids were to see the Rebel Legion and the 501st Legion in the Christmas Parade.
(-o-) Being reminded of the Cello Wars video and getting to enjoy it all over again.
(-o-) Reese's infatuation with the Binary Sunset music (when Luke looks out over the dunes and muses on how lousy it is that Biggs and Tank are fighting for the Rebellion against the Empire while he's stuck at home on the moisture farm).
(-o-) Finding light sabers all over the house. Homemade, store-bought, or stick.
(-o-) Mesa real glad moole boyos no know Jar-Jar.
(-o-) Discussing the Force with two four-year-olds. Is it in everybody or only in certain people? Can you lose the Force? (My answers: It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. And no, you cannot lose it. The Force will be with you, always.)
(-o-) Dan pointing out that it's tricky to know how to discuss the Force with other people's kids when you don't know what their families believe or the age at which they think it's appropriate to talk about it.
(-o-) Same two four-year-olds pretending to be starfighter pilots in a two-steering-wheeled car-shaped shopping cart: "Echo three to Echo seven!"
(-o-) Doing the breakfast dishes with Weird Al's Star-Wars-ified version of The Day the Music Died playing in my head. Looking it up later and realizing that the piano played by the Darth Sidious look-alike has been decorated with a Death Star texture/color scheme.
(-o-) Kid speech/understanding errors: "The Vampire Strikes Back."
(-o-) Remembering seeing Episode V in the theater in 1980, Jedi in 1983, and playing Storm Troopers and Ewoks in my childhood back yard.
Late entry - as I linked this to Facebook, I noticed that my friend Cara had just posted this awesome image:
May the Force be with you, y'all. Always.
