Matinee

Today the boys and I watched The Fighting Sullivans, the story of five brothers who are all killed aboard a Navy boat during World War II. This movie was legend in our home growing up because my mom and her siblings (one sister and seven brothers) ranked this movie as No. 1 in their youth.

The boys really dragged their heels when I said this was the Afternoon Movie. They had noted on the Netflix case that the movie was made in 1944, which meant it probably didn't even have sound.

"Let's start the movie," I said, gathering them in.

"That one that was made in 1896," said one boy as he deeply exhaled and then flung his head off the back of his neck. I bent down, picked up his head, and then helped him reattach.

"Yes," I said, "that's the one."

We started the movie, despite their protests, and within two minutes, everyone was hooked.

"I win," I said (to myself, because I know better than to say this out loud).

My boys loved every single minute of this film. One or two may have cried, I don't know. I mean, I doubt it, but I heard a few giving each other a hard time about being sad, which to me at least indicated they grasped the significance of the boat going down with all five brothers on board (as opposed to being enamored by the explosions of that moment).

The lesson to be learned is: ignore all that body language they send your way. You know best! Trust your instinct. Also, black and white films, contrary to what they might think, will not singe your children's retinas. They are tough enough for this, and a whole host of other hardships as well.