Amongst the many amazing things she had, were some DVD's which I had asked some friends and family who were struggling to think of things to get to buy her. Until recently DVD's would not have been very useful to Elin. However in the past few months especially we have noticed that on a good day, her concentration and understanding can merge enough for her to pay real attention to everything going on around her, I mean even more so than ever before. This extended to enjoying DVD's, or parts of them, on Paul's laptop (pushed close so she can see)- especially those with music and songs. Yes I know, another Mum who sticks the kids in from of a DVD!! Shocking!! Haha. But a real milestone for us and for Elin.
Well, sheltering inside from the wind I thought it was about time to treat her to THE best children's film of ALL TIME. She already enjoyed Toy Story at the start of the holidays and has loved everything 'Frozen' since she saw it in the Cinema. There are some incredible children's films around these days and we will be sampling them all as the Winter weeks go by. But, nothing can come close to the enduring quality of this film. Incredibly and unbelievably it's 75 years old and the true mark of it's genius is that all the DVD sections in the supermarket are still selling it, children all over the world are still watching it and adults everywhere can recognise at least one of it's many famous lines (for a line from a film made in 1939 to still be no.4 in the American Film Institutes list of the top 100 movie quotations is pretty amazing) .Maybe in 75 years time children will still be dressing up as Shrek or singing the songs from Frozen, but somehow I doubt it. They might still be asking for a pair of ruby slippers on their Christmas list, though.
Did you guess?
The Wizard Of Oz.
I was absolutely obsessed with this as a child and seeing one of the five pairs of ruby slippers that were made for Judy Garland to wear in the film on display at MGM studios in America was a dream come true for me as a kid when we went there on holiday. Caitlin inherited this love by osmosis and my Mum made her a 'Dorothy Dress' to wear when she was about four years old and her video-tape of it nearly wore out!! So, I was nervous about showing it to Elin. What if she didn't enjoy it? I was pretty sure she might love it due to all the singing and bright colours but it was a moment I always thought my kids would share with me so I had put off sharing it with Elin until she was ready for it, as I didn't want to be disappointed. Today I thought she was ready. I was right. Her favourites are in this order 1) The Munchkins 2) Toto 3) The Cowardly Lion. She's not too keen on the Wicked Witch. She has laughed her way though it, I'm stupidly chuffed at this. There are so many things I thought I might not share with my daughter when we had her initial diagnosis . Not just the big things, I mean the little things that you pass onto your children, that were passed onto you (in my case by my Great-Aunt), like the love of a good film or book. The ties that link the generations together, the enjoyments and shared memories that make each and every family unique. It was a new kind of heart break to think I couldn't share with her the things I grew up with, the things that make me..well, me. But it turns out I can share the things that are important to me with Elin, I just have to share them in a different way and she will enjoy them in a different way, too.
"Well I think that if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard; because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with "
Dorothy Gale to Glinda The Good Witch in "The Wizard Of Oz" 1939.
Until next time, blog fans :-)
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