Monday, October 17, 2011

I Believe in the House of Gryffindor

I am in a blended marriage, in a variety of ways.  Tim is Republican and I am a Democrat.  Tim is a Catholic and I am not.  (I am a Methodist, but more important is the fact that I am not Catholic.)  He is a junk food junkie and fast food connoisseur who never works out (without being overweight which is extremely annoying) and I am the opposite (I eat healthy, workout like crazy and have to worry about being overweight).  He is a Harry Potter fanatic and I am not.  

Tim started reading the books years ago when they first came out.  Before we had kids.  I thought he was weird.  I thought he was weirder when he stood in line at the children's bookstore at midnight to get his copy of the new Harry Potter release.  Sure he wasn't dressed in a wizard costume, but was weird.

When my oldest son, Peyton, was in second grade he read the entire series.  He loved it.  He wanted to discuss it at length.  I did not.  

Wizards.  Monsters. Magic.  Whatever.

Peyton and his dad bonded over baseball and Harry Potter, leaving me out of it and that was just fine with me.

This past weekend was kind of a reconnecting time for all of us.  With the crazy schedules, house showings, work stress, homework stress, terrible two stress we needed to hit the reset button.

First was the exciting family dinner at McDonalds.  

We never go out to eat anymore mostly because of my younger son JT's Celiac disease, but also because of my attempts at healthy eating habits for the family.  But they built a new McDonald's in town after a fire destroyed the old one and we promised when it was open we would go. (We sound so small town and we are, how funny.)  Predictably, the kids enjoyed the new tubes over the food, which was fine.

After the hearty meal, we had a family movie night.  The kids chose "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" since my daughter Lucy has decided to be the character Hermione for Halloween. And JT wants to be Draco Malfoy (which after watching the movie I think he can pull off).

Well,  finally, I get what some of the fuss is about.  Still don't want to commit to the books, but what a good story.  Bravery, trust, friendship. It's all there.  Lucy loves Hermione because she is so smart and loves to read, how cool is that?

Harry the seeker.  I get it and can relate.  Who the hell thought I would ever write a blog about how I relate to Harry f-ing Potter.  It is insane.  Tim is loving this and now thinks he will be able to convert me to the dark side of Republican-ness.  No way in hell.

Our reconnect weekend ended with a trip to the pumpkin patch. 
I don't care how different Tim and I are-- Republican/Democrat, non-dancer/dancer,east coast/west coast, Potter fanatic/Potter newbie-- these types of traditions make the world right.  

Life is good and even though I am late to the game, I believe in the House of Gryffindor.  Long live Harry Potter!

1 comment:

  1. I've NEVER seen or read any H.P. books or movies...