I absolutely love seeing the world through my daughters' eyes.
Now, I've never really lost "the child inside". I've always had a gift of being able to remember a child's perspective, but seeing as a grown-up at the same time. I've never NOT watched children's movies, cartoons, etc. I have even retained the memory of huge portions of "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish".
That said, I love reliving a lot of my childhood favorites with the girls. Movies I loved as a child, television shows, book, music...all of it.
Recently I had the blessing of FINALLY finding a copy of an animated movie that was the first one I got to see in the theatre with JUST my friends: parents basically just dropped us off, and the 4 of us walked in, bought our own tickets (and snacks), picked our own seats (near the front, naturally), and enjoyed. This particular movie (simply titled "Once Upon a Time"...no relation to the current television series) has been virtually unfindable! I've never seen it come on television, never rereleased in theatres, never seen it on VHS or DVD...until recently. I was so excited, especially when I realized that my older daughter was the same exact age I was when I went to see it!
In my excitement, just as I was putting it into the machine, a horrible thought crossed my mind:
WHAT IF THE MOVIE WAS REALLY LAME???
Were my childhood memories fogged by years? Did the movie just seem fantastic because of the independence? I was actually a little nervous when we all sat down to view it. Thankfully, the movie was actually a little BETTER than I remembered it, and the girls loved it.
Other things I have shared with the girls from my childhood include original segments of "Sesame Street", "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood", most of the classic Disney Animated movies, "The Monkees" (both the music and the show), "Happy Days", "The Brady Bunch", my collection of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Roald Dahl books...so much more.
I'm glad that, thus far, the girls have enjoyed them; some more than others. Example: while they thought "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" was cute, they're completely hooked on "The Brady Bunch" (and their reaction to Davy Jones showing up on an episode was almost as classic as the episode itself).
Don't get me wrong: it's not all MY stuff. I also (most of the time) enjoy some of the newer music, shows, etc. that they like. "My Little Pony" and "Victorious" are wonderfully addictive shows, and I find myself enjoying listening to Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez and Hunter Hayes.
Now, if I can just get so that I'm not crying my eyes out when I DO share a piece of my childhood with them...
