Children's favorite Disney movies are more than just for entertainment purposes. They can be every parent's treasure box of priceless teachable moments and life lessons they can share and pass on to their kids.
Writer and mother Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal struggled to create and squeeze in teachable moments with her daughter, who is eight years old and now is in the stage of going through some new feelings and first time experiences like having her own cliques and feeling left out or having unrequited crushes. Her daughter is also becoming quite a rebel now in knowing how to talk back, break the rules or in thinking that she knows better than her parents.
It has been a challenge to instill important life lessons or do one on one discussions and have the right words or perfect advice to say.
Thank God she found her treasure box in the form of her Apple TV's Disney+ subscription, which she described as an "entire library of life-and parenting-lessons." sitting right in my.
"Using Ariel's defiance or Belle's tenacity as conversation starters resonates with my daughter much more than if I strung a bunch of cliche advice together, or worse yet, desperately tried to convince her that I could relate through stories from my own childhood," West-Rosenthal declared.
Priceless lessons from 5 Disney movies
Thus, she is encouraging parents to take advantage and play Disney movies on their home screen. This is the kind of screen time every parent would want their kids to have - a screen time that ends with children gaining essential values and lessons in life.
Here are a few examples of the best life lessons she curated for her daughter, and for all other kids and even adults to learn straight out of four of the best Disney movies ever, as she wrote for Parents magazine.
1. One needs to face his/her fears. - "Finding Nemo"
"Perseverance is at the heart of every goal" one sets for himself or herself regardless of how big, invincible or overwhelming life can get, West-Rosenthal proclaimed.
Marlin, Nemo's father, persevered and never gave up on finding his son Nemo, even if it meant facing the unknown, his fears, and a lot of challenges. As a result of his perseverance, he not only found his son but also found a meaningful life that he could never have known if he gave up. Like Marlin, just keep swimming and moving forward.
2. One's voice is his/her most powerful tool. - "The Little Mermaid"
In "The Little Mermaid," Ariel gave up her voice in lieu of a life above the sea and a life with Prince Eric. However, without her voice, the prince is unable to see her inner beauty, which includes her outspoken mind, her loyalty as a friend, and her ability to offer hope and healing. One's voice is powerful. Do not disregard it and instead stay silent. One is never in the right place or with the right people if he/she cannot use his/her own voice.
3. All feelings, whether good, bad, or scary, are okay to feel. - "Inside Out"
In "Inside Out," viewers are introduced to the characters of Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust, who are the feelings raging inside of Riley, making it difficult for her to make sense of them all. Thus, Joy is to the rescue in preventing Sadness from taking over Riley's feelings. Joy's intention was purely good. She does not want Riley to feel sad, especially that she can make Riley happy. However, forcing joy to not feel sad can be dangerous because all feelings need to be acknowledged and validated. One needs to feel all emotions to process, to heal, to mature and to understand oneself better.
4. Embrace oneself, even if others do not. - "Beauty and the Beast"
Aside from the great life lesson that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," the movie "Beauty and the Beast" holds another priceless wisdom - staying true to oneself despite what others are saying. The character of Belle exemplified this perfectly. Despite the townspeople laughing at her and making fun of her family for being different and despite the other girls being confused of how she was unimpressed with the "popular" Gaston, she remained true to herself. She knew herself and her values and thus, embraced herself.
She loves her family, and so she stood up for them.
5. Don't sweat the small stuff. - "The Lion King"
Remember Timon and Pumbaa singing "Hakuna Matata," which means "don't worry, be happy" in Swahili? This is exactly kids should be learning from the movie "The Lion King." Sweating on the small stuff can rob oneself from the joy in being in the present. Worrying can consume oneself and can lead to missing every good thing in front of him/her.
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