A Stroll down Memory Lane

Thanks to the ever expanding world of Netflix, in recent weeks, our family has been able to rent some old favorite movies that the kids haven't seen in years and years. It is such fun to gather in the living room and put on one of these movies. The kids compare what they remember and giggle like they used to. They reminisce about when they last saw the film, and I sit there just soaking it all up.

Recently we have been getting the Wee Sing movies. The first time I saw one of these was wayyyyy back in 1989 or so. I had my own parenting newsletter and I was sent "The Big Rock Candy Mountains" to review. It sat on a shelf for months and then one night when Jasmine was up late (due to a late nap probably), I pulled it out and put it on. To say she loved it would be a vast understatement. It became one of her favorites and she watched it again and again and again. We discovered more and more of the Wee Sing movies and by the time Coryn was born in 1996, we had almost all of them and they had become family favorites.

Watching "Grandpa's Magical Toys" this week brought back those memories. One of the many songs in the movie is "Come Over Playmates" and Joseph and I immediately sang the lyrics as, "Climb down my cellar DUR . . . . we'll be jolly friends foreverMUR" because that was how Jasmine pronounced the words when my mom taught her the song long ago.  Sweet memories indeed. (Heck, when we see a little girl wearing sparkly sunglasses, we STILL go "It's little Miss Hollywooooooood" because that's what Jasmine called herself when wearing sunglasses. Isn't it funny which memories stick with you?!)

I also found it highly amusing that as we sat here and watched the movie, all three of the kids were sitting here with laptops . . Nicole was writing, Coryn was surfing Facebook, and Caspian was playing a kill multitudes of zombies game. The contrast between the movie and these ADULTS in my living room was poignant and bittersweet.

Of course, strolling down memory lane is always poignant and bittersweet, isn't it? The memories tug at your mind and heart and bring tears of sorrow and joy at the same time. I just feel blessed to have these memories in my life and try to remember that each day we live, we are creating more of them for the future.