Quiet Time with Old School Disney

 After trying and failing to get Collin to nap (or just be quiet in his room even) for a straight two weeks (which, by the way, resulted in Olivia being woken up prematurely by her brother), I decided to do something different. Back at Christmas, Mom gave me a box of 15 classic Disney movies on VHS that my sister and I watched regularly when we were kids. Since we still have a VCR/DVD player in our bedroom (can you believe it?), providing quiet, quality entertainment for my boy and pure nostalgia for me is possible (yay!). So far we have watched

Pinocchio
     Aladdin
          Peter Pan 
               Cinderella
                    The Lion King

while Miss Olivia catches up on her daytime beauty rest, giving Collin an opportunity to relax and enjoy the wonderful world of Disney before Pixar's modern faves like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E were ever created and before CinderellaArielAuroraJasmineBelleSnowWhite merged together to create one gigantic Disney princess money-sucking empire. Even the sound and feel of cracking the video's case open and slipping the VHS cassette into the player to FF through the fuzzy previews takes me back to a time of carefree simplicity. A simple story dressed up in a few catchy songs where good prevails over evil was, and still is, enough for me and my kids.

While the newer Disney movies are well done, and I enjoy them just as much as the next person, they are products of a bells-and-whistles society that needs ongoing fast-paced action, complicated plot lines, recognizable voices, and bedazzling technology to stay interested. As Collin and I watched The Lion King and bopped along to "Hakuna Matata," I couldn't help but notice this was one of the first Disney movies heading in the direction of Disney as we know it today. There is something to be said for the movie that encourages you to just "think of a wonderful thought" in order to fly away and get lost in your wildest dreams via your imagination like Peter Pan.

I am looking forward to sharing many more special moments and memories with Collin (and someday Olivia) through my old school Disney collection. Next up on the list is my sister's favorite as a little girl (God, I must have watched this one at least once a day every day for an entire summer in 1991 while babysitting), The Little Mermaid. I think Collin is going to get a kick out of Sebastian and being part of the whole "Under the Sea" world. I'm already starting to sing all the songs in my head...

"Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my collection's complete? Wouldn't you think I'm the girl, the girl who has...everything."

With the most precious children, wonderful husband, and loving family and friends, I can say for sure that this girl has everything she'll every need. :)