For homework, we asked the kids to interpret the lyrics to “Wind Beneath My Wings.”

Kid 1 took it to a whole new level and decided to download and watch the movie “Beaches” in order to get more context. He then explained the lyrics of the song in terms of “Whitney and Bette’s friendship,” hypothesizing that “Whitney didn’t care to be famous, she just wanted to help Bette be a star and be there for her as a friend– in other words, be her strength, like the song says.” Naturally, I got teary-eyed reading this essay because seriously what IS it about that movie?! (Side note: sorry to that kid’s parents for introducing him to a movie with themes of early death and infidelity. I hope he’s not as scarred as I was when my parents took me to see Pretty Woman in theaters when I was 8, presumably because they couldn’t find a babysitter).

And then, Kid 2:

“It’s about a bird. With wings.”