Potter Mania

Tonight, after the Stations of the Cross, Leia Rose, Daddy, and I watched the first Harry Potter movie!!! I have never seen Leia Rose more excited about seeing a movie! (And it was an absolute Godsend that Colin and the McNeils just happened to be at Stations as well, and Colin told Leia Rose that Voldemort's face was "funny" on the back of Quirrels head because he was "so bald"! As a result, Leia was not scared at all at the one REALLY frightening scene in the movie where Quirrel is hiding a sickly, parasitic Voldemort under his purple turban. Colin also gave Leia Rose a friend, close to her own age, to talk with about the book/movie. Thank you Colin!)
There were two things Leia Rose was mildly scared of, however: 1. "Fluffy" and 2. The scene in the haunted forest with Quirrel drinking the unicorn's blood. But, you know what? No problems sleeping, though. Whew! ; )
Then the most amazing thing of all: the Harry Potter universe is inspiring Leia Rose to READ!!! And I'll admit that, much to my chagrin, Leia Rose does NOT choose to read if she doesn't have to. But tonight, after the movie when she found out there were SEVEN Harry Potter books, she immediately christened a game of "library" in which she would pick out a book and "I'm going to try to read the words on the page to try and figure out what is happening! And tomorrow, right when we get up, Mamma, I want you to get out these books and we can play library again!" I have now experienced the power of the writing of J.K. Rowling first hand, the power that so many parents have observed in their own children, but until now I have only heard about. One word for you: WOW!!!