Post-Movie Deep Thoughts

I took the kids to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs today. This story in particular is really tied to a very specific piece of my childhood. Our Wyoming friend, J, used to create books on tape for children’s books and this one was my absolute favorite one. I think he may even have “cast” me to read a couple of lines once, and that was a thrill to be sure. It is just such a fantastically heartfelt story that really ignited my imagination on so many levels.

There was the obvious question of what food would I have ordered from the machine? What would I love more than anything to have super sized? What would a gigantic meatball actually look like? And the biggest question, would food that big still taste good?

But sitting there watching it today, and sobbing at the end, it brought a whole different set of imaginings with it. The entire central theme of unrequited and malnourished dreams and relationships really struck a chord with me. I mean, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that I was a ridiculous crying puddle at the end purely because I’m just generally really emotionally raw right now. But regardless of my emotional stability at the moment, it’s a potent message that bears consideration.

I worry on a regular basis that because our financial situation won’t allow us to put the kids in extracurricular activities that I am shortchanging them from discovering their passions. I also worry that because I’m so not an artsy crafty type of mom, that I’m also taking those opportunities to create away from them. My children know that I love them fiercely, but I often wonder if they will grow up and tell stories of their childhood that sound like “yeah, my mom loved us a lot, but…” and that scares me. But at the same time I’m not entirely sure how to stop it.

I know that there will always be something lacking from every childhood in retrospect, I guess I just hope for my children that it won’t be something that I could have so easily provided if I’d been just a little more aware.