Aaron watched this and loved it.
He insisted our entire family watch it together and so we did. I laughed when I first saw this in theaters. This time, though, I felt really touched, especially Napoleon’s last desperate, ultimately triumphant, act. How sweet. How kooky. I’m not sure why I was so touched. Maybe I’m nervous about the kids going into middle school.
Favorite scene: Napoleon grudgingly feeding ham to Tina, his grandmother’s pet lama. Now when we go to feed the chickens instead of saying “here chick, chick, chick,” we say “Tina, come get some ham!” In fact, we’re using this line a lot around the house lately. I hear it at breakfast. I hear it at bedtime. I hear it if Holly is trying to motivate the kids to do something and they want to wage a low-level rebellion. Yesterday I threatened to yell it at their swim meet, instead of my usual “Go, go, go!” cheer. I would have done it, too, but I didn’t want Aaron to laugh in the middle of his heat.
Aaron does a really compelling imitation of Napoleon Dynamite saying, “Gosh!” If you see him, you must ask him to do it for you. If he doesn’t want to, he may say, “Tina, come get your ham.”
Which is just as good.
Present Tense 
About the kids going to middle school fear . . . lose it. As a middle school teacher, I know it was a common worry, and one that parents always chuckled about when they saw how much their kids blossomed in middle school. They’ll love it and do you proud.
Ah, thanks Ruth. I am sure they will do fine, just the stuff they’re supposed to do (and some stuff they’re not supposed to do, for that matter). I’m just trying to cope with the changes.