Star Wars: Spoiler Alert

     Tonight I made a huge spoiler error... I accidentally might have mentioned to Liam and Joshua that Anakin's wife, who is Luke and Leia's mother, died just after Anakin moved to the dark side to become Sith Warrior, Darth Vader.  Oops.  Silence filled the dinner table.
     Sure, they have the t-shirts and the toys and even the light sabres... and we even rode the Star Tours ride at Hollywood Studios but that still doesn't mean they know Star Wars. Even those early reader Star Wars books that Liam insists on borrowing from the library don't really help someone get Star Wars. Liam and Josh play around all the time talking about the Force and their space ships, but they've got very little to go on.  We've only watched the first two of the prequel trilogies and we haven't seen any of the original IV-VI together.  I think we might skip that sad third story altogether. 
     Still, that doesn't stop Liam and now even Joshua to be obsessed with Star Wars.  I might have fueled it a little bit in the interest of coordinating Halloween costumes (Darth Vader and Yoda).  But it didn't end with Halloween.  They even had a Star Wars birthday party theme this year.  Themes... they can get a little consuming, can't they?  And for what?  After all of my research and planning, I was told that my Darth Vader cake looked more like a wookie than the Sith Lord Vader.

     Although you might not be able to tell from my Wookie/Darth Vader cake attempt, I did actually do extensive research for this Star Wars party.  While the kids battled it out with pretend light sabres (we broke too many real ones in combat), I continued my research.  This was at about the same time that I got into Pinterest.  At any rate, fueled by Pinterest, I decided that I wouldn't stop with Star Wars cakes (there was a Yoda one too).  We needed Star Wars food too.  Here are some of my personal favorites:

Light Sabres made by dipping pretzels into melted colored
chocolates.  I later found out an easier way (wrapping the
pretzels with red or green fruit roll ups). 



We got most of these from a Star Wars spoof on You Tube starring
several characters including Cuke Skywalker.  Actually, I made some
of these up but I don't remember which ones.  We also had Carrot 3PO,
Chewbroccoli and the peppers were renamed Darth Mal's light sabres. 
We had Millenium Falcon dip too but that had no resemblance
(maybe the white color?) to the actual space ship. 



I saved this one for last because it's the best.  There was the
Storm Trooper Cheese Platter,but anyone could do that.  However,
who would think to try to pull off an R2 Brie2 (other than me,
because apparently I needed a diversion from everyday life)?

    So the party when off without a hitch, the kids enjoyed a Jar Jar Juice box while parents drank a Yoda Soda.  There were also Darth Cheddars (Cheese Its) and Princess Lays (potato chips) as well as Wookie Cookies (I never really thought how much a Girl Scout Samoa cookie looked like a wookie). 
     But I digress... and so I will get to the hitch.  Here's a room full of die hard Star Wars fans.  Kids ages 2-8 all who claim to know and love Star Wars.  But yet when you give the kid a Wookie Cookie, he looks at you and says, "What's a Wookie?"  And the Millenium Falcon Dip?  Oh, that went way over their heads.  Everyone loved the Storm Trooper Cheese Platter... because cheese and crackers are quite the popular party food, but the Storm Trooper part might have been a little bit lost on them (Liam actually refers to stormtroopers as "Crone Wars").  Pretty much the only one the kids "got" was the Obi Grape Kenobis, although they might have just giggled at that one because it sounds so funny.
     So here's my point.  All of this focus on Star Wars and Liam really hadn't gotten much further than Podraces and Jar Jar Binks.  What's worse, he doesn't even think that Jar Jar Binks is annoying!  For all his talk about Death Stars and Darth Vader, he really doesn't know how the two are related, not to mention what an Ewok is.
     Now, I am not a die hard Star Wars fan myself.  I was too scared at a sleepover party once when Luke got his hand cut off by his dear dad so I didn't ever watch them all the way through until high school when Bill rented the whole series for me.  I'm not a die hard, but what I am is obsessive compulsive (which is why my R2 Brie 2 looks so totally awesome).  However, I will tell you that even I might have gone too far.  See, Star Wars for 6 year olds is a little bit different than Star Wars for older kids- and by the time Liam would be old enough to appreciate Carrot 3PO and Chewbroccolis, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't want either at his party.  I'm pretty sure by that point, it will just be a case of soda, a few pizzas and "leave us alone". 
     I suppose some day we will buy the whole Star Wars DVD set.  And when we do, at least for the next few years, I will probably fast forward the part where Anakin kills the Sand people village, attacks the Jedi children and also when Padme dies.  Then Liam will finally meet Luke Skywalker and, if I don't spoil it for him, maybe he'll realize on his own that Leia is his twin sister and that Hans Solo really isn't such a bad guy after all.

Until then, may the force be with you.