Yesterday I took the kids to see Hotel Transylvania 3 at the cinema. I’ve not seen the first 2 films so didn’t know what to expect but my son reassured me I’d catch up with the plot 😂🤦🏼‍♀️.

I enjoyed the film and like all films I watch I can usually relate it to my life and in particular my love life.

So here’s the general gist. Widowed single father is lonely after dedicating his life to his daughter following the death of her mother. She’s all grown up with husband and child of her own. Single father believes true love only happens once in a lifetime (aka the “zing”). As he had that with his first wife he doesn’t believe it can happen again. Daughter arranges a family cruise holiday to give her dad a break from running the family business. Dad “zings” with the attractive ship captain who is secretly plotting to kill the Dad…you can fill in the ending, it’s a kids film, it’s a happy one.

So this got me thinking on several levels.

1- Do we really only “zing” once in a lifetime or can we “zing” again after a heartbreak?

I hope not and I’ve seen plenty of people have love in their lives again. It might be different with someone else but that doesn’t make it any less real or special.

2- Do we all get lonely?

I think so. I was lonely in my marriage and I’ve been a different kind of lonely as a singleton. I know friends who can say the same. Loneliness is real and hard.

3- Are our children opposed to the “zing” or are they all the better for seeing their parents in a healthy relationship?

The daughter didn’t know how she felt about her Dad moving on and dating the captain. She was reminded by her husband that she wanted her Dad to be happy and that the captain might just give him that happiness. She didn’t like the Captain at first and so we have yet another evil stepmother scenario which is a stereotype that I hate (as a potential step mother myself). Ultimately she was scared of losing her dad but after a conversation and some reassurance from him that she will never lose him, she was happy for them.

I truly believe that our children just want us to be happy.

We all just want to be happy. A relationship isn’t the only ingredient to happiness. We can be happy on our own when we find happiness within.

One last learning from the film:

4- Music really can defeat evil and bring joy! 🎼🎧🎤🎺🎸🎻