So here we are living on a remote Scottish Island, endeavouring to have a commercial free childhood for our kids…and
“EVERYTHING IS AWESOME…EVERYTHING IS COOL WHEN YOU’RE PART OF A TEAM” blasts out of my son or daughter’s mouths – the theme tune from the lego movie that hit the screens a few weeks ago.
What do I do? They LOVE lego, it feels creative, enjoyable, fun, they make up games with it all the time, they have been gifted huge quantities of the stuff. So as a treat I take my daughter to see the movie. My son who’s that much younger gets to see the trailer on the internet and decides it’s a bit scary, he is happy to stay behind.
Getting to see the movie when living on a remote Scottish Island is an experience in itself. We had to boat off the island and then drive for well over an hour to get there. It’s a lorry unfolded. It is a travelling movie theatre called The Screen Machine that comes to Mull. The lego movie has attracted lots of kids and their parents. The lorry is full.
So much for trying to live Screen Free. So much for a commercial free childhood, the lego movie is a 90 minutes commercial and I LOVED IT !!! Talk about being a Joyful Parent – what a treat to go and see this ! (and I think my daughter liked it too ! )
Once home, my daughter explained the story to her brother, and she got their piles of bricks out, created their own Lord Business, found a few mini-figures who would do for master builders and away they went re-creating and playing Lego-The Movie. It was actually really amazing to see. Now three weeks later they are still playing with Lego. The theme has changed, but let me take a risk for fear of sounding like a commercial…it really lived up to its name – Lego means “Play Well” in Danish and my children really do play well with it.
So while I am interested (obviously – we would not be living on a remote scottish island if I wasn’t) in my children having a commercial free childhood, I also think that some exposure to what is available for kids is okay…I don’t want to be puritanical, and I don’t want them to be over run with advertisements or thoughts that their lives would be better if they had the latest toy…for once it is ingrained, that story that happiness can be bought is a very compelling one…
So off I go to see if I can get the lego Wyldstyle mini-figure !
