AuburnChick's Adventures

Quick.

Guess what movie the title of this post is referring to.

Did you guess Toy Story?

Well then, you’d be correct!

To celebrate Father’s Day, we went to see Toy Story 3.

I am part of the generation of moms who took their children to see the first and second Toy Story movies.  In fact, we even had the Toy Story game for the Super Nintendo, and it was actually fun!

So, this movie series is near and dear to our hearts.

Well, we weren’t disappointed.  Woody, Buzz, and the gang were just as fabulous as we remembered them.

The addition of new toys (Barbie and Ken) made us laugh.  In fact, I think Ken steals the show!  What a hoot!

While I fully expected to laugh, I did not anticipate the feeling of melancholy that was pervasive.

Folks, this is a sad movie!

Andy, the owner of the toys, is getting ready to leave for college.  He knows he’s outgrown his toys, but you sense how torn he is with letting them go.

And oh how the toys love him.  What a loyal group it is!  As with all of the Toy Story movies, the toys get separated from Andy, and they spend most of their time trying to get back.  Along the way, they all learn some important things about themselves, their jobs as toys, and Andy himself.

Near the end, I worked hard not to cry, even though I wanted to.  The closing scenes will do you in if you’re not careful.

This movie hit home for me.

Chicky will be leaving in five weeks.

I am not sad, I tell you.  I will be fine.  It is time for her to be on her own.

But.

This movie made me remember.

Chicky had a few toys that were her favorites…

Baby Katie,

Big Baby (which Rooster accidentally mortally beheaded),

Barney.

As she packs her belongings, she’ll leave her childhood toys behind…the ones we still have, that is.

Most are in the attic (I’m seeing visions from the movie here).

A few are in her closet.

I kind of feel sad for the toys, for they are getting left behind.

But perhaps they are really symbolic of the people she’ll be leaving behind.

Or rather “person.”

Me.

She’s too big to sit in my lap now.  Well, actually, she’s the same size, and we look rather silly piled on top of each other.

But I can’t rock her to sleep anymore.  I can’t sing her favorite songs to her…Amazing Grace, Father I Adore You, and You are My All in All (hey, we spent a lot of time in church, and she knew the worship songs by heart even at a wee age).

As we mature, we leave things behind…things that once meant the world to us…things that we centered our lives around.

This is a natural part of life, and one that I am totally okay with.

But when you watch something like that on a ginormous screen in front of you with crying babies sitting behind you, it’s kind of hard not to see the irony.

Go, see the movie.  Take a kleenex.  Go at night when the little kids are all in bed and not sitting behind you kicking your seat.

heehee

Laugh and remember back to your own childhood…to your childrens’ childhoods.

It’s a trip down memory lane that you won’t regret.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: raising children, toy story 3 |