Anyone who has been a parent for even a few weeks will tell you that this gig is not easy. Part of what makes raising children so difficult is the myriad uncertainties that plague us. We may not always know what the best way to discipline is when our children are being particularly rancorous, or if we should let them walk to the playground by themselves, or if we should force them to eat their vegetables or if that's going to give them an unhealthy relationship with food in general. But, for nerd parents, there's something we can be certain about, maybe the one thing we've been certain about since we were, like, 4 years old: Star Wars.
Those movies have been there with us through a lot. They gave us a strong female role model in Princess Leia when we were surrounded by complacent maidens and wanted to see someone who reflected our own cheekiness and ambition. The concept of the Force helped us when our first pet died. (Can't you just imagine a hologram-like ghost of your poodle watching over you smiling? She's not "dead"; she's "one with the Force"! No? Well I did. May the Force be with you, Beulah.) And now they're going to be right by our side as we attempt this whole parenting thing.
Star Wars, by design, does what all the great stories do. The tale is at once detailed and specific to the characters and plot while universal to the point that the heroes journeys parallel our own (except Han Solo flying the Millennium Falcon and rising above his scoundrel-y ways is way more exciting than the real life story of us driving a piece of sh*t car in high school and slowly becoming less surly until we're finally not self-interested douchebags). Of course, kids don't consciously pick up on these more complex themes. They're just like "I'm going to be Chewbacca when I grow up!" And by God, you hope they can realize that dream somehow...
But even though they don't know it's happening, the larger themes are sinking into their little psyches, and watching this process as a fan and as a parent is pretty cool. You will be their guide into the geektastic world of Star Wars, like a Jedi master teaching her padawan, and there will be some universal truths and themes there, too.
Search your feelings: you know these seven points to be true...