Today I'm thankful for movies. Specifically kid's movies. I've always been fond of them personally, but over the last year and a half movies have created a language for Owen and me use to communicate. Movies have taught Owen empathy, emotions, how to dance, and most importantly - words. He's learned words consistently from watching movies beginning with Toy Story (the only thing I really forgot to include in that collage up there). He laughs, he copies them, - he straight up acts out the movie as it happens. He gets obsessed with movies and we watch them 84,000 times for as long as he's in love with them and then we move on to the next adding the former favorite to our collection for roadtrips to be revisited and loved all over again.
I know, I know, TV is bad, he shouldn't watch that much, I shouldn't let him get obsessed with things, blah blah blah. Listen, I personally - and by extension this blog - believe that parenting strategies are good for the people they work for. There is no one right answer. One family may excel and love co-sleeping, or letting their kid's pick out their own meals - another may have the baby sleeping in their crib from night one, or the kid's only eat what is served to them as a family with no exceptions. I believe you do what's right for you. That's the winning strategy and advice in my opinion. It's the only advice I ever give to friends that are becoming parents. You do what works for you. If you know in your gut that something is right for your family and you have some naysayer lecturing you on how horrible it is - laugh in the face of danger and do it anyway (yes, I just referenced Lion King). And don't judge others simply because you have different ways of parenting. If both people's kids are living a healthy and good life - nothing. else. matters.
Back to the movies and the TV shaming - I let Owen and Mac watch movies and TV. Some days none at all, other days they'll have something or other playing most of the day. Deal with it. They play outside, they color and fingerpaint - they do normal kid things all the time. But they also watch movies. Owen has always focused in on movies like nothing else was happening in the world (he apparently gets that from his mama). We've gone through a hundred different favorites and obsessions and at the end of the day, I don't see him watching a lot of TV. I see him playing with it in the background some days, safely knowing his favorite thing is there with him, and other days cuddling with me when he needs to calm down and watching a princess movie or Mary Poppins, learning to speak when nothing else could get him to talk. Having watched other kids quickly surpass him vocally, I was and am happy to put on a movie that gets him to try new words (or any words in general). And when it's over, we'll go play with pipe cleaners or make brownies together. It's what works for us. And that's all that matters.
I'm grateful for those movies forming a connection with my son that didn't before exist. I'm grateful they have taught him how to speak Whale, how to make ambulance sounds ("bee bo, bee bo.."), how to hold your breath at the exciting or stressful parts, and how to dance while a creepy voodoo man sings incantations. I'm grateful for the things that he doesn't even know he's learning but is ingesting none the less. Like going after the life that you were made for, committing to be there for your family and friends no matter the obstacle, that his Mama and Daddy will ALWAYS come for him, that having what you need is far more important than having what you want, to be kind to everyone, and a little imagination can go a long way. For all the lessons he's learned so far and will learn in the future - I'm grateful for them.
