I underestimated the power of the Force!

[karne]

Actually, I didn't even know what the "Force" was until my ds became Star Wars crazy! It is insane how completely infatuated this child is with Star Wars. At first I thought it was because we went from no media, to low media, to, well, Star Wars as often as possible, lol. But there's something here that is really capturing my boy.

Anyone else have a big star wars fan in the house?

[GuildJenn]

I'd have to say - three.

But yes, my son is the biggest fan in the house. Which is a bit funny 'cause he's never really seen much of the live action films (he has seen some of the Clone Wars TV show, which I am still not entirely thrilled about but - he and his dad love them.)

I think the Star Wars mythology is pretty universal at its core - knights + bad guys + wicked special effects! I also remember when I first saw the first Star Wars in yes, '77, and it totally captivated me. The concept of the Force and Jedi Knights sustained my little wee self in a lot of ways. I have a lot of fondness for it.

When I rewatched the first film (A New Hope that is, not the new trilogy) recently to screen it for my son I was surprised at some of the things that I find violent for him - and which I loved myself.

My son and I play lightsabers/swords a lot, but we always end it with a hug.

P.S. Jedi knights make their beds, clean up their toys, and help clear the dinner plates; it is an essential part of any young padawan's training. Pass it on to all the other moms!

[briome]

My husband has...um...exposed our sons to Stars Wars. HE LOVES IT, and so does our 5yr old. They often play together actually. Our 2 year old is still really into trucks but I expect at one point they will all play together.

I grew up 'Star Trek' but I appreciate the mythology of the 'wars', although the violence gets rather tedious. I do put my foot down and will not allow any non-starwars toy items around, except a lunch box. I don't want to have any Star Wars sheets, shoes, food, etc, but I have allowed SW underwear and winter hat.

Anyway, good luck with that. Where did your son pick it up?

[Fay]

My brothers and I were huge Star Wars fans in the 70s & 80s. If your kids are padawans, then you get to be the Jedi Master. Make it work for you....after all, Luke had to do all kinds of crazy stuff for Yoda as part of his training!

[annettemarie]

My boys are obsessed and it's driving me crazy. I could get used to the idea of being Jedi Master though...

[Biscuits & Gravy]

OBSESSED. It is all we talk about. Luckily I'm a big fan as well, so his interest is easy for me to live with most of the time. I got him this sticker book a couple of months ago and he loves it. It kept him busy for a while, matching the stickers up to the spots where they belong. Now he pages through it daily, asking me to tell him the names of characters and memorizing them. Star Wars is his first official obsession.

[Smokering]

We had the Star Wars theme song at our wedding, so... yeah. (To be fair, it was going to be the First Contact theme but we couldn't edit it to a punchy enough beginning for the recesional. So we're not diehard, exclusive fans. Just fans.)

[oiseau]

I'm not a mama yet, but I am totally prepared for this to happen in my household. Knowing my fiance, I'm sure there will be a Star Wars obsession phase of my children's lives.

I've actually never seen any of the Star Wars movies and I don't plan to until my children see them. I figure I'll probably have to watch them tons of times once my kids become obsessed with them, so I'll just wait until then.

I totally know a little kid whose parents used the Jedi Master idea though. It helped quickly resolve a lot of tense situations.

[Owen'nZoe]

I have two Star Wars obsessed little boys here, too. I have to say, there are few things cuter than a three year old who likes to quote Yoda. I love the Jedi Master idea - kicking myself for not thinking of that!

As for the commercial aspect of it - we're fully immersed in it, I'm afraid. The boys both have clothes, toys, legos, sheets (vintage early 80's, courtesy of my MIL who somehow managed to both use them for her boys and keep them in pristine condition), vintage trading cards (thanks to an adoring uncle with no kids of his own), WII games, movies. We've purchased very little of it ourselves - once people know you have a Star Wars fan, it all comes pouring in. Every once in awhile I feel grumbly about all the money we've earned for Mr. Lucas, but mostly I'm impressed with how creative the boys get when you put a light saber in their hands.

[annettemarie]

Nicholas, my extremely spirited child, told me stepmother she looked like Yoda's grandmother, only older and taller.

[newbymom05]

So what do you all think the youngest age for SW is? My almost-5 y/o has been asking to watch SW since he was 3, and I keep putting him off. The Great Mouse Detective has scary parts as far as he's concerned, y/k?

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

Nicholas, my extremely spirited child, told me stepmother she looked like Yoda's grandmother, only older and taller.

Love that he threw "older" in there since Yoda's grandmother would be well into her thousands! Is she greener too?

We have some devotees around here. DP saw the first one (#4) when he was right around two and his Auntie has the scars to proove it (apparently Darth Vader scared him enough that he LATCHED onto her neck with his fingernails). DD was 5 months old when #1 came out and we actually camped to get tickets. Well, I actually took DD home in the middle of the night to get some decent sleep. She was on TV as the youngest "fan" in line.

I'm not a Star Wars fan, but I have used it to point out what I consider a very valuable lesson--- when people say they want things "fair", they usually want them to go their way. All the Jedi's were looking for Anaken to bring balance to the force--- BUT THEY WERE THE LUCKY ONES AT THE TIME. Balance could only bring them down. When my kids talk about something not being "fair" I mention that if things were fair, they would live in a 400 square foot shack without runninng water or electricity--- because that would be "fair" if everyone had that.


Now that I've hashed that out, if you've never seen this but are a Star Wars Fan (and not easilly offended) you might enjoy it:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_428070.html

Further into the video someone writes in who is clearly describing their "conversion" by Obi Wan:

My inspiration in life is a man I met in Nigeria called Ben Kenobi. He taught be so much about the Force that spirituality has; it can be used for good and it can be used for bad.

Between the multiple hits of Fresh Prince Fans & the RickRolling I never know whether to laugh or cry at this.

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by newbymom05

So what do you all think the youngest age for SW is? My almost-5 y/o has been asking to watch SW since he was 3, and I keep putting him off. The Great Mouse Detective has scary parts as far as he's concerned, y/k?

It's really up to the individual child and their desire to see the movie, IMO.

We have a friend who so wanted to see Harry Potter that she handled it fine, though the only other movie she could reliably watch at that time was My Neighbor Tortoro Like no Disney movies because they were too scary.

If you are willing to skip parts, I think the first three (#4, 5, 6) can be definately watched in parts by a fairly young child. My kids are 8 & 11 and haven't seen The Matrix yet, but we showed them *parts* of it years ago, kwim, when they were interested.

[moss]

i have a star wars fanatic here as well. the force is strong with this one LOL

[Alyantavid]

Oh yes, light sabers and all.

When my younger son was a baby, 5ish months, I dressed him up as Yoda for Halloween. My then 4 year old was Darth Vader. It was awesome.

[GuildJenn]

Originally Posted by newbymom05

So what do you all think the youngest age for SW is? My almost-5 y/o has been asking to watch SW since he was 3, and I keep putting him off. The Great Mouse Detective has scary parts as far as he's concerned, y/k?

I think it really depends on the child, but my son was soooo into the TV Clone Wars that my husband and I got talked into screening SW: A New Hope (on the small screen) when he was just over 4.

It didn't go too well - for my kid animation is apparently safer than real people/actors fighting. We've shelved it for a few more years. It was a good lesson in following our instincts in the face of pleas.

[Biscuits & Gravy]

Originally Posted by newbymom05

So what do you all think the youngest age for SW is? My almost-5 y/o has been asking to watch SW since he was 3, and I keep putting him off. The Great Mouse Detective has scary parts as far as he's concerned, y/k?

DS has seen them all, and just turned 4. The bizarre thing is that almost every other movie in our collection is "scary" according to him, but SW does not even phase him. Disney movies? Too scary. Darth Maul? Bring him on.

My brother is getting married on Halloween, and the reception is a masquerade ball, so DS insists that our family will be going as Star Wars. My little guy will be Yoda, of course. I'll be Leia, DH will be Han Solo, and DS wants to be Luke. The version of Luke that he wants to be changes daily though.

One night in the bathtub he informed me that he was turning to the Dark Side. Then he followed that statement up by pushing his brother.

[elmh23]

My three-year-old LOVES Star Wars and does "jedi rolls" instead of somersaults. It started when we found a really cute Yoda costume last Halloween when he was about 2.5, so we showed him the movies (with some fast forwarding over some sceans) and he was in love. There was a period where he'd watch one SW movie a day, all he wanted to watch was SW. After a couple months of letting him do that, he's not watched it for at least 8wks. He has a SW ship and Obi-Wan Kenobi action figure and he plays with them daily (he loves little figurines.)

[jadegirl553]

Originally Posted by Smokering

We had the Star Wars theme song at our wedding, so... yeah. (To be fair, it was going to be the First Contact theme but we couldn't edit it to a punchy enough beginning for the recesional. So we're not diehard, exclusive fans. Just fans.)

We did too!!

We love Star Wars here. The books (adult and kids), the action figures, the video games, the movies, the trivia. It's fun!

[Owen'nZoe]

Originally Posted by Biscuits & Gravy

DS has seen them all, and just turned 4. The bizarre thing is that almost every other movie in our collection is "scary" according to him, but SW does not even phase him. Disney movies? Too scary. Darth Maul? Bring him on.

Same here! My boys won't watch 'Finding Nemo' cause it is too scary, but they both watched the original trilogy at age 3 and were fine with it. They even grumbled when I fast-forwarded through scenes I thought were too scary.