The Empire Strikes Again

Nathan, Hannah and Garret Posing with a Droid


Hannah and Nathan Posing with R2D2


Princess Leah Not Winning Over Our Resident Princess Fan

Nathan first saw the original Star Wars Trilogy the Christmas of 2004. He was not quite 2 1/2 years old and any time he talked about the Star Wars movies the following year, I could hear many a mother gasp in awe that he actually had seen those movies. He was an instant fan. We bought him all things Star Wars for his 3rd birthday. He has many more Galactic Heroes than we'd like to admit. The collection began that summer before he turned 3 and Mom and Dad were just as excited (maybe more on some occasions) when we found new characters packaged together. He started off with the characters that even the Star Wars challenged, like myself, all know. Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Obi wan... Keeping up with those little guys proved to be a challenge as we moved to Michigan. I remember one instance we thought he had lost his entire (extensive) collection while visiting Memaw and Yehyeh's house. They all turned up in a Kleenex box shaped "spaceship". Phew! Those little guys have been loved and played with more than any other toys. They might be put aside for a few minutes, but they always come back.


My Star Wars education has improved over the last 2 1/2 years. I have seen all of the movies except for the most recent one. The first 3 I had seen as a child (I think), but I didn't really remember them. My memories are from my cousin, Carter's collection of toys when we were kids. I think he had a tauntaun (don't be too impressed--I looked that up) that actually opened up so Luke Skywalker could fit inside of him just like the movie The Empire Strikes Back. I think all of his toys were from that movie.


Nathan had his own vocabulary for Star Wars when he first started watching the movies and playing with them. I really wish I had written it all down because I have forgotten so much of it. I can't even remember how he used to say Star Wars. How sad! I do remember that he called one "The Sand One", another "The Snow One" and the other "Alligator One". He learned the real names of all of the characters more quickly than I did. Many conversations in our house went like this:


Nathan: "Mom, have you seen Mace Windu?"
Me: "Who is that again?"
Nathan: "The brown one with the purple light saber, Mom."
Me: "Oh, you mean Samuel L. Jackson. He's right here."
Nathan: Blank look, but glad I found who he wanted anyway.





Nathan: "Mom, have you seen General Grievous?"
Me: "Um, this one?" (Holding up a guy who looked like a general to me).
Nathan: "No, Mom. That is the Emperor."
Me: "Sorry, you'll have to help me out here. Is he good or bad?" (This wouldn't really help me, but I was just stalling)
Nathan: "Of course he is so bad, Mom."





I always mix up the Fett family too. That results in sighs of disappointment every time.


We haven't had a Star Wars marathon in quite some time, but this exhibit has revived the passion in our little man. We first saw the signs in London and were unable to see it so when we mentioned to Nathan that we will be going back to London with Nana and Papa in a few weeks it was the first thing he asked about. We told him it probably wasn't there anymore and we were right...it is in Brussels now until June. You cannot imagine a happier little guy. This past Saturday along with his friend Garret and his sister (a Star Wars fan by default) Nathan and his Daddy took in the Star Wars Exhibition. He had the greatest time and was so excited to show Mommy and Sarah the pictures when he got home. He also showed me the light saber fighting skills he learned in the jedi training show. So fun. I'm afraid I'll never be a huge Star Wars fan, but I have learned to appreciate it for the sake of our family's sanity. I've even learned to choose the right guys when we divide up good guys versus bad guys. I'm almost always on the bad guy team per Nathan's direction and he takes the questionable ones like Anakin even when I argue that he always had "the dark side" in him. If the current trend is any indication, Star Wars will most likely remain part of our lives for years to come (despite having 2 daughters and 1 son). If I don't learn something from living in this house, I would consider myself pretty hopeless. This house is like Star Wars Immersion Camp.