Our Daughters' Daughters Will Adore Us

This weekend, LittleBird entered a new phase of her girlhood. She saw Mary Poppins for the very first time.

Her face was priceless during A Spoonful of Sugar. Her jaw actually dropped open as the toys flew across the room and put themselves away.

It has affected her in a profound way. She has woken up two nights in a row and come to our room to ask us hundreds of questions about every nuance of the film a three year-old could manage. She is trying to wrap her brain around all of these terribly complicated concepts.

One of the benefits of watching this type of film is having the opportunity to appreciate the humor through adult eyes. In light of our recent election, I particularly enjoyed Mrs. Banks and her involvement with the suffragette movement.

I had forgotten the wittiness of the writing of that particular scene. The personality of Mrs. Banks makes light of the imprisonments and hunger strikes, but there are references throughout the film. How excited she is to throw eggs at the Prime Minister, of her fellow suffragettes chaining themselves to fences. How she understands her limitations in the line: "Put these away, you know how the cause infuriates Mr. Banks."

She is an endearing character, and her description of their activities quite charming. It is a rose-colored glasses view of history, but timely nonetheless.

If you have a moment, treat yourself to the scene. The text is even there for you to follow along. I promise, you'll be whistling the tune despite yourself. I've particularly enjoyed singing to Hubbie that men are rather stupid. With lyrics like those, how can you go wrong?