We’ve been role playing Frozen in our house for almost two solid years so I think we were all ready for a change. That change came in the form of Pixar’s newest animated film— Inside Out.
Have you guys seen it yet? Your kids will think it’s hilarious while you try not to drown your popcorn in your own tears. Am I supposed to weep this much at cartoons? Because it feels really abnormal. Everyone else is busy laughing at Bing Bong, the candy crying elephant, while I’m all, “She’s forgetting her imaginary friend ever existed!!! She’s losing all her childhood memories!!!! She needs to face the sadness before she becomes happy again!!!!! WE ALL GET OLD AND THEN WE DIE!!!!!”
It’s a great movie. I just…. MOTHERHOOD. It did a number on me.
I took the girls to see it a few weekends ago and even though I’m pretty sure they didn’t fully comprehend the plot, they are OBSESSED with the characters.
The characters, if you know nothing about the movie, represent different emotions inside a little girl’s head— Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust.
I’m sure there are more emotions but those are the main characters in the movie, so from this point forward, you and your children will cap your capacity for human emotion at five different feelings. Until Inside Out 2 comes out, of course. I look forward to meeting Guilt, Shame and Regret as the little girl gets older.
Anyway, Mazzy and Harlow like to play Inside Out and they have designated our roles which are not up for discussion and DO NOT CHANGE EVER. Harlow is Joy, Mazzy is Disgust, Mike is Anger and I get to be Sadness.
Yay, I get to be Sadness!
I mean— “Okay… I’ll be Sadness if that’s what you guys think is best…” spoken softly while frowning with a short low-pitched almost inaudible sigh at the end.
The voice of Sadness is the same woman who played Phyllis on The Office, if that gives you a better sense of what I’m dealing with. I guess my character makes sense when you consider how many tears I shed during the movie.
For the past two weeks, every time I do anything with even a little enthusiasm, I’m met with, “No, Mom! You’re Sadness!” Then I have recalibrate my excitement, ramp it back down to zero and start over.
“This trip to the park seems fun but it reminds of the time I fell off the swing. Sigh.”
“It’s only a matter of time before this ice cream drips on my favorite shirt and ruins it forever.”
“We’re having dinner as a family. I hope nobody dies.”
Yep, my kids have made me into Debbie Downer and I must face all family situations with a negative frame of mind. Playing Kristoff (my designated Frozen character) never sounded so good.
The worst part is, even though Harlow is Joy, she rarely participates except to announce that she is Joy. So all family conversations include anger, disgust and sadness (when Grammy is around, she gets to play the part of Fear) but there is no element of positivity whatsoever.
This would be typical dinner conversation:
MAZZY: These meatballs are disgusting.
GRAMMY: I’m scared they are too hot and will burn my mouth!
HARLOW: (silence)
MIKE: IF YOU DON’T EAT THOSE MEATBALLS, YOU WILL GO STRAIGHT TO BED!
ME: Those cows lived a terrible life that ended in the worst way possible.
Then Harlow and Mazzy crack up uncontrollably, as they always do when I play my part correctly.
Hey, if I’m gonna be Sadness for the next two years, at least my girls find my misery amusing and I get the biggest laughs.
You guys are so cute!
Love it love it love it .. Love this post!!!!
I love this post! My daughter scrolled through and looked at the pictures and asked where fear was, lol. Do you have any pictures of Grammy looking scared?
“I look forward to meeting Guilt, Shame and Regret as the little girl gets older.” Hahaha! Inside Out the College Years
I love this!
They are sooo cute! I always read/see your posts on Instagram (they all make me remember mi niece). Will come back later to read more posts, I like how you write and the way you describe them 🙂
always a joy to hear about your girl latest hijinx!!!!
Tell them it’s their job to make you happier. Not force you to be sadder. As fear, I feel I should stop worrying about this.
My older daughter is joy, and younger daughter is disgust, too. And my husband is anger. haha, I thought we were the only family playing this.
I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one holding back audible sobbing at this movie. I think it’s a combination of motherhood and remembering awkward life transitions as a young girl. Someone at Pixar was really gunning for moms with this one, but I still loved it!
Well… there went that coffee right out my nose!! How DISGUSTING. 🙂 LOL
HAHAHA. I’ll let my kids watch this. 🙂
PS: I’m not sure if it’s just me or what but I find this post pretty short (like hanging) compared to your usual “conversation” stories. Like I was really surprised to read that it was the end, the only conversation you had. LOL (Not sure how to describe this but kinda used to when you post at least two or three conversations in a story. lol )
You weren’t the only one crying. My 5 year old daughter and I were both sobbing throughout the film. Also apparently the only lessons she learned are that anger is hilarious and if you get mad at you parents you should threaten running away. Really wish I hadn’t taken her to see it… As cute as it was.
Had one of the scariest experiences of my life today while watching Inside Out… Went to see it today for the 2nd time with my niece and nephew. Right before the scene with Imaginary Land or whatever it’s called, the screen goes black. Then I hear an announcement over the PA: “PLEASE EVACUATE THE THEATER IMMIDIATELY VIA THE EMERGENCY EXITS”. Being in a middle row of a half-full theater, I grabbed the kids and ran for the exit. We were the first ones out. We ran down this hallway with a few doors and no windows and finally made it outside. We were extremely lucky to have made it out of there alive. I saw on the news about an hour ago that a woman with a gun had made an attempt to commit a shooting.