My favorite part of Disneyland (and this is taking into consideration that huge plate of desserts at the princess lunch) was the Jedi training academy. Even before I had kids I've wanted to have one of my kids be selected to do the training (no I'm not going to deny it, since they don't let adults do it, I was wanting to live vicariously through my kid-- I've become that kind of parent). On our last day at Disneyland, we dressed him in his only Star Wars shirt, got there early to stand at the front of the crowd, made him stand up and look excited even though he was tired and the Jedi masters had arrived yet (just in case there were cameras watching- I already admitted to being that kind of parent so you can't judge me). I could hear all the other parents giving their kids pep talks and coming up with a game plan to get them on stage, but I was convinced my kid was the only one with the Force strong enough to be worthy of becoming a Padawan learner. Then the Jedi master arrived with his dramatic entrance, did his fancy lightsaber performance, and then motioned with his hand and carefully selected the participants. I almost screamed when he picked two brothers that had shown up at the last minute and squeezed their way to the front of the crowd. But then the moment I waited for all his life finally arrived--E WAS SELECTED! (I may or may not have cried.) I nearly had a panic attack when I turned on the video camera and saw the "card full" message flashing at me. My only option was to hastily delete videos as if my life depended on it (because nothing I could have possibly recorded in the past was as monumental as this moment). E got robed in his official Jedi cloak and was given loaned a lightsaber.
He then stood on his designated circle and watched attentively as he was being instructed in the ways of the Force and light sabering.
Of course, that was about the time that Darth Vader, Darth Maul, and the Storm Troopers arrived. (Maybe I got choked up a bit).
One by one the kids battled them.
The Force was especially strong with E (a mother's intuition is never wrong) so the Storm Troopers went after him after he challenged Vader (yup only him-- I guess I'm not the only one who recognized him as the chosen one).
Luckily E was able to use the Force to push them back and flee to safety. (I can neither confirm nor deny tears at this point).
With the other kids, E rejected the dark side
and was accepted as an official Padawan Learner.
(Okay, I'll just say it, I was verklempt.)
And what made me giggle a little bit was after we left the training I looked down in the stroller and saw him trying to Force push things as we strolled past them. Then in line at Space Mountain, he asked me if he still had his powers. I told him that he probably didn't have them without his Jedi clothes on. (I only told him that so he didn't try to use his newfound abilities on his poor little sister).
I was so happy I E got selected to have this experience. I hope he remembers it.
By the way, if my overly dramatic play by play and abundance of photos wasn't enough for you, feel free to watch the video.
