Sunday, May 23, 2010

Dual Birthday Theme Duel


Weeks ago, when I asked C. what he wanted on his birthday cake, he replied without hesitation, "Caillou!" That was easy, I thought. I found Caillou invitations, a mylar balloon, a table cover... this 4th birthday party at the park was going to be a piece of cake. Until...



Hubby, in conversation a few days ago about the upcoming birthday, happened to ask C. what he wanted on his cake. The cake is the last thing to get ordered. "Fireman Sam!" he replied with enthusiasm. Hm. A disjointed theme? Or give the kid what he wants (unless of course by party time he wants Batman on the cake)? Or put them both on the cake? I have to decide by Wednesday... As long as it's chocolate, I imagine he'll be fine with whatever I decide.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Conflicted

Before I had kids, I resolved that I would not let them play with guns. It seems like an obvious rule to me.

But, but. What about squirt guns? I sure loved them as a kid. I remember the excitement of picking one out at the drugstore, getting the stream of water from the faucet small and steady enough to go in the little hold in the back, and fumbling with the stopper to get it snug, before blasting the neighborhood boys with my best shot.

Sometimes it seems like a ridiculous thought to consider denying my kids this pleasure, but other times, I worry about the slippery slope.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

A Scarry History

I loved the Richard Scarry books as a kid. The imagination, the word play, the details of the world he created... I got lost in them, in the best way.

Now, my sons have a few Scarry books. They enjoy them too. But they are not yet old enough to read the books themselves, so Hubby and I have the honor.

As fabulous as these books are, they are hard to read aloud. The other day, reading to C. before his nap, I skipped a few pages here and there, to get through. When he wasn't quite ready to sleep afterward, I gave him the book, "Here, you can look at this while you rest." He picked it up and started slowly paging through it.

"Mommy! You missed this page!" he yelled, an edge of concern in his voice. Pause. "You missed this page too, Mommy!" Oops. Busted. And come to think of it, although I remember being read plenty of Dr. Seuss, Berenstain Bears, and Mother Goose tales as a kid, I don't remember hearing the Scarry ones...

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Bust my Boiler

Perhaps C. has been watching a little too much of the Thomas and Friends dvd that he received for the holidays. Or maybe it's a combination of that and Fireman Sam that's causing the problem. Thomas is narrated by Brit Pierce Brosnan; the latter has characters with various accents from the UK. So now C. is experimenting with a British accent – dropping his r’s and denasalizing vowels. “The cah ovah theh.” “The mahn with a red sweatah.” He’s also trying out idioms and vocab from the show. “Bust my boiler!” I heard him say once. And he likes to use the word “decoupled” whenever possible.

Even Hubby will randomly follow a statement with “…Sir Topham Hatt boomed importantly.” Time to unplug the TV already?