I bought the movie Titanic as a birthday surprise for my wife, wrapping it carefully and placing it on the kitchen counter where she would find it later. It felt like a small but thoughtful gift—something nostalgic, something we could watch together once the house was quiet. That morning, our three-year-old noticed the case and immediately became curious. He asked if he could watch it after school, his eyes wide with excitement. Without thinking too much, I smiled and told him it was a movie for grown-ups, something Mommy and Daddy watched together. He nodded seriously, as if I had just shared an important rule of the universe
What I didn’t realize was how creatively a young child might interpret those words. To him, “for grown-ups” clearly meant something very specific—and very important. Apparently, the idea stayed with him throughout the day, growing bigger each time he repeated it. Children have a way of filling in gaps with imagination, especially when they don’t yet understand context. In his mind, the movie wasn’t just a long romantic story set on a ship; it became a mysterious symbol of adulthood, something exciting and secret, meant only for parents.
