About 6 months ago, Padawan-Wan "inherited" my iPod Mini when Hubby-Wan & I upgraded to a video iPod. Yeah, we're mp3 savvy, but what else would you expect from a couple of musicians? Of course, Padawan-Wan knows how to work his iPod with the exception that he can't read. So, it's always a craps shoot whether he can call up the exact song he's looking for. Most of the time I of course have to find what he's looking for.

For the last week, though, he's been obsessed with listening to the TPM soundtrack. We have put in his room our old computer speakers so he can listen to his iPod in his bedroom. I turn on the TPM music & leave him to his imagination. What ends up happening is quite the display of swordsmanship (to "Duel of the Fates") that even Obi-Wan would be jealous of! No kidding, Padawan-Wan can spin his small wooden sword with amazing skill - without hitting himself in the face, mind you!

What amazes me is the volume at which he needs to listen to this music. It's so darn loud which makes me wonder if it's true: 32 is OLD. Nah, not old, just sensible about the volume. As musicians, we expect a certain level of hearing loss (for me, I can already hear the difference in my "every day" listening ability), so maybe it's my mothering instinct to protect his 5-year-old ears from damage. It's hard to say. Could just be that I'm LAME.

Yesterday, though, while he was in his room acting out TPM scenes behind his closed door to the very loud music, I suddenly hear a pause in the music and a switch. To what you may ask? To Johnny Cash!! LOL! I partly think that this is because "John Williams" and "Johnny Cash" are listed one after the other on his "Artists" menu, but the best part was that he did not stop the song. What song? None other than "I Walk the Line." God, this kid has great taste in music. I'll gladly take 60% of the responsibility on this one since this used to be MY iPod!

Tonight Hubby-Wan was working on lesson plans for his 3rd grade music classes tomorrow. He is going to guide the children through "Hedwig's Theme" from Harry Potter - pointing out instruments & themes using something called a listening map. Padawan-Wan was fascinated by the pictures on the listening map and managed to learn a little bit about the music at the same time. When my husband finished his work & began printing out the lesson plans & the handouts for the kids, Padawan-Wan declared that he too wanted a listening map "And Daddy? Could you put that song on my iPod?" So onto the iPod mini went "Hedwig's Theme."

He ran back to his bedroom & plugged in the iPod (yes, he knows where all the speaker & power plugs go), turned on the speakers & began enjoying the latest addition to his Harry Potter play list. For about 15 minutes, we didn't hear a peep from the bedroom so out of curiosity we crept down the hall to his closed door & listened. All we could hear was the loud music with an occasional thump of a 5-year-old jumping around his room. I slowly turned the door handle and quietly pushed the door open just a crack so we could see what was going on inside. What we saw made our hearts swell with pride...

Padawan-Wan had dug out his Harry Potter glasses and his homemade magic wand (made from a wood dowel painted dark brown of course!) from his toy box. If you've seen pictures of my son, you know that not only does he have crazy hair like Harry, but he also has a real scar on his forehead (from a little accident last spring...) right where Harry has his. So here's our son looking like a mini Harry Potter doing this awesome interpretive dance to the "Knight Bus" music from HP3. Personally, one of the best John Williams creations ever! This was the craziest dance I've ever seen in my life - complete with him running into the closet door when the bus "stops" at various points in the music. Hubby-Wan took a moment to put his hand to his chest & sigh at the cool kid we have. He went back to working on his lesson plans but I stayed to spy a bit longer.

Up next was "Buckbeak's Flight". Through the drum intro he ran in a big circle around his room then flopped onto his bed. He sat on his bed pretending to ride Buckbeak, looking almost meditative. As the music climaxes in the movie scene, Harry stretches out his arms and yells, "Woooo!" as he & Buckbeak soar over the lake. And so did Padawan-Wan right on cue. My heart practically burst watching him act all this out in the privacy of his own room. I slowly closed his door and left him alone.

I know I write about this often here, but it's amazing how these fantasy stories have captured his young imagination. Isn't that the point of fantasy? An escape from reality to something.... else.... I'm happy that he has latched on to Harry Potter, Luke & Anakin Skywalker, Frodo & Eragon - harmless heroes that hopefully have something to teach us in the end. Some people laugh at me because I refuse to read mystery novels or watch police or political dramas on t.v. If I want to watch police blotter stories I'll just turn on the news, I don't need "pretend" crimes to occupy my time. Books, movies, t.v., entertainment in general in my mind needs to transport me away from this rock, to a place that makes me forget the real world violence that surrounds us, and makes me believe that all things are possible.

I hope that my son never outgrows Star Wars or LOTR and I hope that he continues to discover that as you age these stories take on deeper dimensions. If you're a member of sw.com then you too understand what I'm talking about. Isn't it grand?