When we went to go see Mr. Magorium a month or so ago there was a preview for the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Liam and Colm new instantly that they wanted to see it. Sean and I new instantly that there was no way on God’s green earth that we would let them see it. Uh, it’s awful in every way I can think of and that is just based on what I saw of the previews. What makes me even sadder is that for the past two weeks it has been in the second and third spot at the box office. What does that say? Either there is absolutely nothing else to see at the movies and people are desperate to waste their money. I think it might also say something sad about what we, as Americans, find funny and entertaining. Even sadder, I think people really want to take their kids to the movies (especially since their not in school) and that is the closest thing out there to a kids movie right now. Why can’t there be more good kid movies? We get about one good one a year, that’s not enough.
Archive for January 2008
Liam is at a difficult age right now. It really hit me when I started trying to plan his birthday party. He is getting too old for some things, but isn’t quite old enough for other things. He really wants to go to a Laser Tag place for his birthday party, but he isn’t old enough. He also wants to do glow in the dark golf, but I don’t think five-years olds quite have the fine motor skills to do that, especially in the dark. Yet, he’s a little too old, I think, for some of the other options that have been pretty standard up until now. He won’t take animal crackers in his lunch…they’re too babyish. (I think someone told him that because he eats them just fine at home.) He will still watch Backyardigans (especially if it’s one he hasn’t seen before) and he still likes an episode of Diego every now and again. His book choices are becoming more complex and so are his tastes in movies. He wanted to go see Waterhorse over break, but after doing a bit of research we decided he wasn’t old enough. We explained it too him. He still wants to see it, but he didn’t put up a fight. He is still making good choices, but I can feel it coming. I am holding onto his “little guyness” at long as possible, but I know that I will have to let it go, eventually, too. They grow up, darn it.
I am learning to gauge when Colm is done with Mass. I was very proud of him today, he made it all the way through the homily. That’s a first, folks. He has adopted Liam’s Bible and was very busy with it most of the time…mostly scanning the pages for pictures of bad guys or people who were crying. He wanted to know why each person was crying. It got to be a little much after a while, so I told him I would tell him later. Anyways, when Colm is done, he is done. There is no bribe or threat that will get him in line and it is in everyone’s best interests if you know how to handle it. So, as soon as he gets that way we leave. I don’t try to bribe him or get him in line because it won’t work and he just ends up getting worse and disturbing the people around us. I am not going to punish him, he is three and I don’t want him to think of church as a boring place where Mom and Dad get mad at him. Most three and four year olds have a hard time sitting still for an hour or more; it isn’t really developmentally appropriate for most children that age to sit in one spot quietly for that long. I also want him to know, however, that he can’t misbehave in church. It’s a fine line. Children eventually learn to sit through church and listen, but it takes a while. So, we go the the foyer so he can blow off some steam and walk around and I can still participate in Mass.