As a parent I wanted to share all my favorites as a kid with Connor. That way he can experience the things that I loved. I mean... if I loved them then of course he will! ..... Right?!
Two of my very favorite movies growing up was The Little Mermaid and The Care Bears Movie. I already had these on dvd before Connor was even a thought in my mind. I never really watched them but having that memory from my childhood close by brought me comfort.
When we introduced movies to Connor last year, I would let him pick which dvd he wanted to watch from children movie selection. HE ALWAYS CHOOSE LITTLE MERMAID. OMG. He veered over to Jungle Book for a while but shortly after went back to The Little Mermaid. I was starting to dislike my favorite Disney movie but have learned to just tone it out.
Last summer daycare took the kids to the movies and saw Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation. I was told that he sat and watched the whole movie and munched away on his goldfish. I filed that back in my brain of things to remember because I had both Care Bear movies at home. Sure enough... I put in the first movie and he was entranced with the bears. Both Care Bear movies have become a second to The Little Mermaid.
So not only did I watch these movies a bazillion times as a kid.... I'm now watching them a bazillion times with my kid. Sigh.......
I also have almost all my books from when I was a little kid. Lots of Dr. Seuss, Disney Clue Collection and other Beginner Reader books. Some have seen better days and some are out of print but I love sitting with Connor at the end of the night and reading the stories I read as a kid. That has not gotten old yet. I hope it never does.
Right now he LOVES the Disney book The Haunted House. Its where Pluto, Donald and Mickey run out of gas at night and stumble upon an old run down house. Donald and Pluto think its haunted but Mickey has them venture inside. They find out all the ghosts and scary stuff are really bank robbers and trap Mickey and Donald but Pluto gets away. Just when Mickey and Donald give up hope Pluto comes to the rescue with the Sheriff and his men. Pluto gets a bone at the end of the story for being brave.
I remember reading that book a ton of times and LOVE reading to Connor. Its old, worn and reminds me of a happy childhood. If I can give that to Connor then I'll read it a bazillion more times.