Charli xcx dances, Dax Shepard’s podcast and Mario Kart on the sofa are all enjoyed across the generational divide in our family. What happened to shouting up the stairs to turn that music down?
S
ome things you know without being told. Kids reached peak summer holiday boredom last week – on 12 August to be precise – according to a survey. If you’re a parent you may have laughed hollowly there, in the unlikely event you still have enough energy.
Exhausted and bankrupt after standing in endless queues for more wholesome activities, we’ve started Cinema Club, which is totally different from just watching a film on the sofa, in ways I’ll explain, er, later. I was excited to share a particular childhood favourite of mine with my son, who turned 11 a fortnight ago, although this can be a risky business (ooh, is he too young to watch Risky Business?).
Showing your offspring movies you remember fondly but haven’t seen in decades is often disappointing. Sometimes, they are so slow to get going that everyone loses interest, and many have aged astonishingly badly and are now problematic, to put it lightly. Luckily, the 1988 body-swap comedy Big was a hit straight away – fast paced, funny and poignant. The giant piano dance routine completely holds up. The only issue? A sex scene I’d forgotten. The protagonist has an adult form but is really 13 years old, and that wasn’t even why it was awful.
