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Star Wars (the child version)

Yesterday we went to watch Star Wars at a friend's house. Eleanor had complained for a long time that she was the only person in her class who hadn't seen the movie. (When I pointed out that I knew that her friend hadn't seen it either, she said, "Yes, we are the only people in our class who haven't seen it.)

When the movie came on, Amanda exclaimed excitedly, "This is my favorite show!" During the scene where the storm troopers board Princess Leia's ship, she laughed uproariously. "This is so funny!" I think she thought the people who were getting shot were just jumping around for fun: the smoke and the lights were funny too. I am 99 percent sure that she didn't think anyone was getting hurt, much less killed. During a part that I thought might be scary for her, I asked her if she needed a hug. "No, I'm fine," she said, and went back to watching and climbing around on the seats.

Luke snuggled with me for the first 5 minutes of the movie, and then he went back to playing. I think he would have had more fun doing something other than watch a movie...

Eleanor, despite really wanting to watch the movie, watched much of it from in back of the couch. She was quite impressed with Princess Leia, especially when she used a blaster. She was even more impressed with the light sabers. I don't think she will need to see the next ones for a long time.

My friend has 3 boys about the same age as my kids. They spent much of the movie fighting with light sabers (complete with spit-spewing sound effects). Amanda (as Super Amanda!) spent her time chasing them, I think she thought they were being bad guys. There was a fair amount of wrestling as well.

I had a good time, but I need to watch the movie again some time without kids. My memories are dim, but very fond. I never got any action figures myself, but my friends had lots of them and let me play with them (my favorites were the Jawas).

Afterwards we went home and played in a puddle for a while. Luke enjoyed himself immensely, but I was puzzled to see the front of his shorts getting whiter and whiter as time went on... I had no idea what it was, and was a bit concerned. Finally, when we came in I took a look---it was dishwashing soap. Apparently Luke had gotten into the soap again, missed the steps this time, and poured it all over his shorts. Well, I meant to wash them anyway...

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