Tag: children

You are What You Watch?

You are What You Watch?

Posted on by Mama

purpminionOur three-year-old son loves minions. He has never seen Despicable Me, but who doesn’t love a little yellow guy with funny eyes, a bald head and crazy manners. Plus, when McDonald’s offers free toys it’s amazing how well acquainted a toddler can become. So last week when Despicable Me 2 arrived on video, I decided to rent it for the family (after all, my husband and I had been waiting for this day for quite some time).

While it wasn’t as good as the first movie, that meant nothing to my son. He enjoyed watching the minions in action and asked all sorts of questions, especially when these little good guys went bad. I could tell he was a bit disturbed at the craziness of the purple minions, but he seemed okay with everything as all was set right in movie land.

Unfortunately, three days later my little guy came down with some bug and up shot his fever. For a child prone to ear infections, taking fever reducers is nothing new and our son is a champ in this department. But Friday afternoon, he sobbed and cried and insisted that he didn’t want to take his medicine. I finally coaxed (okay, forced) him into downing the syringe full of good stuff, but he was still distraught. After he calmed down a bit he fessed up to his angst against the meds, his reason being, “I didn’t want to turn into a purple minion.”

So there you have it. . . And why shouldn’t he be afraid of turning into a purple minion? One syringe full of gel was all it took in the movie so why not real life? We did explain to him the difference between pretend (“pretwin” in his lingo) and reality; and we also assured him that we would never ever think of turning him into a mean purple minion. (He can manage that on his own some days.)

That being said, it’s moments like these that make me mindful of what I put in front of my child’s eyes, ears and mind. This was a great reminder of how differently children view the world and that we should strive to keep our little ones innocent as long as possible.

I Found a Head of Lettuce on My Kitchen Floor

I Found a Head of Lettuce on My Kitchen Floor

Posted on by Mama

small__3856064468 (1)Okay, so I admit it. December is kicking my tail. It’s not necessarily the Christmas of it all, but the shopping, wrapping, festivefying and merry-making have definitely taken priority over most other daily activities like cleaning, doing laundry and feeding my family. If it weren’t for popcorn chicken in a bag or peanut butter and bread, we would be doing take-out every night of the week.

As for cleaning, my house hasn’t had more than a spot shine here and there since Thanksgiving. In fact, the fall festiveness is still lying atop the basement bar waiting to be stuffed into the appropriate tubs until next year. Today I found a head of lettuce on my kitchen floor. Okay, so it was plastic lettuce from my son’s pint-sized shopping cart, but still it’s place is not under the dishwasher (across from the tomato I sleepily kicked while searching for a morning cup of coffee).

My husband just promised not to reveal that he’s actually doing most of the laundry, and as much as I want to protest I just can’t, especially when he wanders in looking for clean socks or underwear to go to work in the mornings. Gee, he can be so needy. . .  But don’t worry, there is usually a forgotten load of whites left in the dryer because I had some sort of gift wrapping going on in another part of the house. Aw, if it all gets too wrinkled, I’ll just throw in a wet towel and push it through another dry cycle — now there’s a good use of the world’s resources. (Who am I kidding. . . I’m prone to do just that on any given day of the year.)

Yes, I distinctly remember mocking the month and explaining that I was planning not to panic, but Plan B is now in place and anything goes. If we have to feast on the Bell four nights a week and eat pot pies the other, I’ll make it to Christmas with merry music blaring, a glazed smile on my face and my undies turned inside out.

photo credit: Muffet via photopin cc

Toys in Heaven

Posted on by Mama

My husband, three-year-old son and I were watching an animated movie this week, and a character in the show passed away and visibly sort of floated up into the sky. Our son asked my husband what was happening and after a short thought he looked at me and said, “I’ll let Mom answer that one.” (Thanks, honey.)

I simply answered that she was going to Heaven to be with God and Jesus. He gets the concept of there being a Heaven and he refers to baby Jesus in Heaven quite often, so I thought this might help him understand the nicer side of death.

Of course my little guy didn’t miss a beat. He turned to me and asked, ”Are there toys in heaven?” Boy, don’t we all wish we knew. . .

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