For the past week or more Kiki has harbored a longing to watch The Lion King. Today the longing got strong enough for her to go asking around the neighbors to see if she could borrow the movie. She succeeded and all four kids settled in to watch. I did not watch, but I could hear the sound from my office. I realized that I still have all of the dialog from this film memorized. The Lion King was one of about four movies that we owned when Kiki was a preschooler. (I can also recite Winnie the Pooh, Toy Story, and Hercules.) We watched it a lot. But at some point the tape was either damaged or broken. I asked Kiki and she does not even remember us owning it. But I do. I remember curling up on the couch in our unfinished basement next to Kiki and her bowl of cheerios. She would watch and I would nap, because I was pregnant with Link and frequently tired. I still remember Kiki commenting with satisfaction at the end of the film. “And they all have Rars together.” Indeed they do. Today when the ‘Rar’ part came, I reached over and hugged Kiki. She is not so little anymore. I told her the story and she grinned. “So that’s why I like this movie so much!”
We also watched Get Smart today. I had not seen it yet, and Howard had only seen it once, so we all gathered on the couch. Patch snuggled up to me. Gleek snuggled up to Howard. Kiki sighed with contentment. “Finally a family movie time!” It was fun to snuggle up for a movie that everyone enjoyed together. Our tastes are sufficiently diverse that it is hard to find a movie that pleases us all. The movie was a good pick. There was enough physical comedy to delight the kids. There was enough subtle humor to amuse Howard, Kiki, and I. It was good for all of us to be together with no stress and no squabbles. Yay for fun movies.