My Lesson Learned From Toy Story 3

I have to admit: the third Toy Story was hands-down my favorite of the series. And I did not want to see it. I wasn't crazy about having to spend close to $50 for our family of four to go see a kid's movie but we went to the morning show and saved a few  bucks. The real reason this movie didn't make the top of move list was one of the stars: Barbie.

I totally enjoyed my Barbie dolls and her mobile home when I was young, but I don't want my four year old daughter to fall in love too young. She still loves her baby dolls and isn't even ready for "dolls" like my Cabbage Patch doll she has, let alone for Barbie-style dolls with a mature figure, jobs and a boyfriend.

But we went. And my husband and I both agreed that Barbie and Ken contributed to a lot of the adult humor throughout the whole movie. It was a nice surprise. And our daughter hasn't mentioned the B-doll's name once!

And then there was another, even bigger surprise: I cried. Hard. Was not expecting that.

Kids grow up, I know this. But I don't want mine growing up too fast. I want to hold onto their youth as long as I possibly can. I love to snuggle with them and share special moments reading and sharing dreams and ideas. Now, this doesn't mean that we treat them like babies. In fact, we've always tried hard to avoid baby talk, and treat them like capable, respectable, little people.

But we know that they do grow up fast. We hear from more experienced parents all the time that they mature while we blink. Since I can't stop blinking, and I can't slow down time, I'll do what I can to enjoy every minute of their childhood. Just last week I read this article about distracted, multitasking parenting and the unfortunate impact to our children from our own excessive screen time.

There's no email, tweet or text message more important than looking my children in the eye when they want to tell me about their day. If you call during dinner time, you'll leave a message. I will finish Pinkalicious or Where The Wild Things Are before catching up on Facebook.

Today I promise to give my children more time, more attention, more mommy. A couple more blinks, and they won't want to share their fantasies and dreams cuddled up in bed with me on a Saturday morning.

Comments

[Jodi]

Gina, I cried like a big baby. I took my niece to see it and she made fun of me the rest of the night. She said "Who cries watching Toy Story"? Yeah, that would be me.......and you. I get it.

Thanks for the insight. Technology can be a problem. We all need to unplug a bit more. I am not a regular blogger (meaning daily) because it's just not a priority. My motto is I do what I can and when I can. Nothing is that important. Kids come first.

Thanks for another great post.