I enjoy watching movies. I have passed this love of films on to my children. I have what is probably best described as eclectic taste in movies and I think my children have this as well. My wife called me at work one day when my oldest daughter was about 4 years old. While we were on the phone, my daughter asked to talk to me. She said, “Daddy, do you know what I want to do tonight? I want to watch The Hideous Sun Demon.” I’m sure we watched it that night.
My wife was going to a church retreat for the weekend when she was about 8 months pregnant. I was responsible for the kids while their mom was away for the weekend. I had talked to my kids about a Godzilla movie marathon on one of the cable channels that weekend and they were excited. I took them to McDonald’s that Friday night to eat and play on the slides and in the ball pit. When we left, we stopped by a store that had a toy aisle. The kids focused on a box of Beanie Baby type stuffed animals that looked like dinosaurs. With the discussion of Godzilla movies earlier in the week, my kids wanted some of these. My oldest daughter immediately named her new toy Godzilla. This quickly became her favorite stuffed toy. I don’t know that we watched any Godzilla movies that weekend, but my daughter stayed attached to this toy. At bedtime, Godzilla was always next to her in her bed. When she said her prayers at night, she would say, “God bless mommy, God bless daddy, God bless James, God bless Godzilla…” Over the years, she added more dolls and stuffed animals to her side at night. There was a specific order to how they were placed. Their names were added to the roll call during prayers. And Godzilla maintained his place as first after family members.