As I’ve mentioned in the past, Wyatt isn’t one to have a massive, long-lasting interest in things. When something captures his attention, it usually fades just as quickly as it appeared. That’s why this phase has felt so different.
This silly little series of movies has become a HUGE staple in our household. Wyatt is absolutely obsessed with the Inside Out movies.
Months ago, I bought his sister a sweatshirt with all the characters on it. The very first time she wore it, Wyatt was completely fixated. He couldn’t stop staring at it. The minute I took it off her to get changed, it became his. From that moment on, he carried it everywhere... around the house, to bed, even to school. I was constantly sneaking it away to wash it before it became too loved. Eventually, I got him his own, and now that one goes everywhere with him.
Wyatt has to watch both movies on repeat all day long. If one ends and doesn’t immediately start again, it’s meltdown territory. He has little vinyl figures of each character that he plays with while watching, lining them up, holding them close, bringing them into his own little world. His favorite character is Joy... which feels beautifully ironic, considering how much joy he brings into our lives every single day.
What I love most about Wyatt loving these movies isn’t just the comfort they bring him...it’s what they’re teaching him.
He’s developing an understanding of emotions. All of them. The happy ones, the overwhelming ones, the confusing ones. He’s learning that feelings have names, personalities, purposes. That none of them are “bad,” and that they all belong.
Maybe knowing “Anxiety” the way it’s portrayed in the movie will make that emotion feel less scary if he ever experiences it. Maybe it won’t feel so foreign or consuming. Maybe he’ll recognize it instead of being swallowed by it.
Because I didn’t have that.
Since I was little, I’ve dealt with extreme anxiety. I remember feeling a massive weight in my chest, an all-consuming sense of fear over things that seemed so simple to everyone else. I didn’t know what that feeling was. I didn’t know if it was normal. I didn’t know how to explain it, or that it even had a name.
I just knew it was heavy.
Watching Wyatt connect so deeply to these movies feels like watching a door open that I never had access to as a child. He’s being given language. Context. Permission to feel everything without shame.
And maybe that’s the real magic of Inside Out... not just entertaining kids, but giving them tools. Tools I didn’t have. Tools I hope will help Wyatt navigate his world with more understanding, compassion, and confidence in his own emotions.
Even the hard ones.
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