Next Level Nostalgia
Nos·tal·gia
/nəˈstaljə/
noun
1.a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations:
"I was overcome with acute nostalgia for my days in college"
Last week I was driving in the car with our kiddos and the youngest started telling us they were learning about pirates in pre-school. (This may seem odd but our school mascot is a pirate and it was homecoming week, so…) That night I found a few pirate songs on Spotify and then we listened to them the next morning on the way to school. I played some pirate songs from Imagination Movers and of course, Veggie Tales. I played him, “The Pirates who don’t do anything”. Then it went to the rock version by Relient K. Now that’s all he wants to listen to when we are on our way to school. He loves it and I love that he is digging it.
There are all kinds of things that we love in our world. So much is new and creative but there are some things that bring back such a joy and a smile to our souls. Most of the times this is music or movies or sometimes a location or a smell. I believe Kenny Chesney had a really good song about this, “I go back.” We all have these things that warm our hearts and we want others to find the same kind of joy we have.
As a parent there is great nostalgia that comes with a lot of things and most of it bores our kids to the core. We love showing them old pictures of us, where we used to live and about how we fell in love. We especially like to tell them about the “good ole days.” Those were the days before kids when we could do whatever we wanted. Haha! A lot of our favorite things don’t connect with our kids the same way it does with us. But when it does…it is next level.
It is a next level of nostalgia when your kid begins to like what you love. And then they love it too. And that joy is passed on for them to enjoy. Sometimes this connection comes automatically and sometimes it comes because you talk about it all the time. Either way, enjoy it. Roll down the windows, crank up that song and be in the moment with your kids.