Indoor Drive-In!

For our first official

father daughter movie night we pulled out all the stops. To turn the occasion into an event, I laid out some spare mattresses on the living room floor and piled them with every pillow and cushion in the house. After the feature, the intention was for the three of us to snuggle right there for a sleepover instead of retiring to our boring old beds. I gave them each a laundry basket to settle into, popped a couple ginormous bowls of popcorn and we pretended to be at the drive-in. The light were turned off and the the night's feature began....Trolls.

All right, before balking at such a mainstream choice, I let the girls pick the movie this time before unleashing my master plan to initiate them to my nostalgic whims in the future. I had to admit I was curious how a feature length motion picture could be made from what I only remember as fuzzy-headed pencil toppers from the 80's.

Sidenote:

After consulting Wikipedia, I was surprised to learn that the original Troll dolls first appeared in 1959) So there is a history lesson in there somewhere. Be sure to tune into my future podcast to learn all about Troll history and many more fascinating and useless facts.

If you are still rolling your eyes at my half-baked justification, feel free to fast forward to the next blog post where things take an interesting turn. You will, however, miss out on some really sweet father daughter bonding. Your choice.

Trolls turned out to be a glitter-coated, candy-coloured spectacle wherein the titular pencil toppers must defend themselves from the Bergens, a bunch of downers intent on eating them in a futile attempt to assimilate their perpetual happiness. It seems their sole purpose in life is to have a good time and they must fight for their right to party.

Buoyed by a soundtrack of recognizable sing-along party anthems and the talent of star, Justin Timberlake it was impossible to not smile at the psychedelic visuals and general glee of this surprising confection. Kookoo and Little Sweetie hopped out of their baskets every time a new song began and danced their hearts out, encouraging me to do the same. How could I say no? And I dare you to not get weepy during the "True Colours" scene.

As the credits rolled, the living room was a full-on dance party and I doubt they even cared what the movie was about. I think the moral was be yourself and don't be a party-pooper. Positive life lessons, friends.

Worn out from activity, we all curled up together and the girls snuggled into what they affectionately call the "arm-nest" and began to drift happily off to sleep.

Little Sweetie sighed and said, "I love you, Papa."

I smiled, kissed them both and replied, "Papa loves his girls, too."

Then she softly added, "I miss Mama."

So did I.