The downfall of the youngest

When Erik was a toddler, I didn't even conceive of him having any knowledge of fighting and weapons. We read books, played with toys, played outside, and did lots of messy art. If we did watch videos, it was The Wiggles, or Sesame Street, or some other PBS fun. At age 4, I vetoed his introduction to the Star Wars series, proclaiming him too young.

When Anders was 2 1/2, I proclaimed that children who pretended with guns were exposed to inappropriate material at too young of an age. The very next day, Anders made a gun out of Duplo blocks. When he was 4 1/2, he watched his first Star Wars video clips. Within a few months, he'd seen the whole series and fallen totally and completely in love.

CeeCee, my sweet little girl. She's 21 months, and while she doesn't sit still very long, she's watched part of all of the Star Wars movies with the boys. She knows who Yoda is, and points him out every time he's on the screen. She also knows R2D2, and recognizes the Star Wars logo (and can say that, too). She fights the boys for their Star Wars Legos, and loves to have Jedi sword fights with them.