Toy Story 4 Was Created For Mothers - Not Children

Last night, we took the kids to see Toy Story 4 and I had to post my Toy Story 4 review this morning because I have so much to say about the matter. All the emotions! All the feels! I literally need to release these words out of my body.

Toy Story 4 Was Created For Mothers – Not Children

(This post contains spoilers)

I have a YouTube channel where I LITERALLY review my favorite movies and tv shows and I can’t talk about Toy Story 4 on there because I wouldn’t be able to say all the things I’m about to say without sobbing. SOBBING.

I didn’t cry in the theatre like I did with Toy Story 3. Disney, that movie was just downright mean. I think I still have a migraine from that last scene omg. Actually, I can’t even think about it because I’m starting to cry again. Disney – why did you do us like that?!

Toy Story 4 was different. It touched my heart for another reason. It’s the last chapter of a book that I am currently reading and living. It’s a sneak peek into a future I know I’m just about to enter. It’s a world that is not very far off from my current reality. The empty nester phase.

A Different Take For Everyone

When the movie was over, I looked over to my children and they were all crying for different reasons. Natalie was crying because Woody had to leave his friends in order to choose to stay with his girlfriend, Bo Peep. Caleb was all teary-eyed because he recently got lost at a town fair and he felt scared for the lost girl at the carnival. Liam was upset because he ran out of popcorn. Me? I was crying because I knew that I would be ok. That it would all be ok.

After all the credits ended, I ran over to my husband and gave him the biggest kiss on the lips ever and he returned it right back with a huge squeeze because he knew what we just saw. He felt the same thing. We were about to be left by our children.

And I know what you are thinking! Your kids are so young. But are they? Natalie is 14!! Liam is 12!! How young are they really?

The Toy Story Timeline

I feel like I am smack in the middle of the opening credits of Toy Story 3 if you ask me. Can’t we all just look at life through the lens of the Toy Story movie line? I’m almost current, folks!

And it’s scary. It really is. Because when Woody said that he still needed a purpose I just about vomited right on the floor. Our children give us so much life and love and PURPOSE. What happens when they no longer truly need us?

Before you even say it… I know they always will! They will because I still need my mother and thank GOD I still have her. Think about this though… she is living BEYOND Toy Story 4 right now. If we are working off the timeline, that woman is on Toy Story 6! OMG! I can’t imagine what that must feel like.

Toy Story 4 Made Me Face Reality

So, the movie scared me. It made me really look at my children for what they are – teenagers. CREEPY! And if I have teenagers, it can only mean one thing. They are going to leave me soon.

The genius behind the filmmakers of Toy Story is they kept with actual time. They didn’t make Andy be only 12 in Toy Story 4. That boy is like 38 or something at this point! LOL! But that works because when I started with Toy Story I had babies and now I don’t. And they producers knew that.

So, Toy Story 4 worked for me – a mom who was with the film since the beginning. I don’t know how I would feel if I went as a mom of a two-year-old? It just wouldn’t have resonated the same way. They would NOT have gotten out of it what I did.

I was the perfect aged mother for this film. This movie was literally made for my demographic. Someone who is about to lose their children. Someone who knows it. Someone who can sense that feeling of the empty nester but who isn’t quite there YET.

THIS reality is why I think that Toy Story 4 was truly made for parents and not for children. Sure, I think kids will enjoy the adventure. It was a super fun ride. But Disney gave all moms in their 40s with tweens and teens a present and I can’t thank them enough.

Other Toy Story 4 Reviews

It was funny because I read a few Toy Story 4 reviews before I went to go see the movie. I didn’t care about spoilers because I didn’t really want to see this movie. Being honest here! Even driving to the theatre, I was screaming to the kids and begging them to see Child’s Play instead!

Seriously, Toy Story makes me cry so HARD and I HATE to cry. I literally read the reviews because I was preparing myself for what was to come.

And people were upset that the movie didn’t follow the original gang and the main focus was on Little Bo Peep and I thought to myself… who cares? Does she DIE? Does she get smashed to pieces? Who is going to make me CRY?! That’s all I wanted to know!

But none of the reviews that I read really focused on the tear-jerking moments. In fact, most said they didn’t cry. After seeing the movie, I have to wonder HOW THAT IS POSSIBLE because all I felt during the entire movie was LOVE for my husband.

I felt like I needed to hug him and sob with him and wait for him to tell me that WE GOT THIS AND THAT WE ARE GOING TO BE OK! I was filled with HOPE by the end of Toy Story 4 that we will be able to stand on two feet – once again – after our children leave us. It was beautiful. It’s a reminder that all parents need to see.

Toy Story 4 Was A Gift

In the middle of this chaos – first it’s messy floors and playdates and now it’s high school applications and late night parties – I now believe that it is possible to still end up standing tall with my husband happily by my side and I don’t need our three children to hold us up. We. Got. This.

I’m Being Dramatic

Ok, Fam. I don’t need a movie to tell me that my husband and I will be ok after all of our children leave us. I love being a mom, but I tell our children all the time that we will be cruising all around the world 200 days out of the year as soon as all three of them have proper jobs. I have so many plans for us once we are set free. I love my husband madly.

But it was NICE to see Disney tell me that we will be ok. It was nice to see that love will still prevail – a husband and wife love – “once the kids don’t need us anymore” kinda love.

In the media – and maybe I am just saying this because I am slowly creeping up to this category – we don’t see a lot of references to this kind of love. It’s always family love – whole unit love. Whole unit love is an absolute blessing and a gift. But thank goodness there was a film that showcased life after children and depicted it in the most glorious of ways.

We won’t be lost. It’s just a new journey.

So, in the end, I enjoyed Toy Story 4. I am SHOCKED that people are saying otherwise. It was a fun ride for the kids. I hope they don’t make another because it was the perfect closing chapter to this beautiful story. And it is definitely a family movie night kind of movie. Don’t forget to take your man. 😉

HOLD THE PHONE! Will Kids Enjoy Toy Story 4?

Absolutely! Toy Story 4 is a great movie for kids! They will love every single second of this movie. It was such a fun adventure. I kept watching it and thinking of all the incredible games that should be made once they take the movie out of the theatre. A hidden item app, an adventure game featuring Bo and Woody as the lead – what an absolute thrill from start to finish!

When I say that Toy Story 4 was made for mothers, I mean that the creators gave us a GIFT!! But in the end, kids will love it too. What I should say is that this movie is NOT ONLY made for kids. Toy Story 4 was made for parents as well.