Movie weekend
Suzanne at Mimilou had a good post the other day about media-savvy parenting. In my comments to her, I admitted to a certain (albeit questionable) smugness in that although my kids watch way more TV that the 'experts' would recommend, at least they don't watch (whispers) commercial TV.
I thought of this on the weekend, as Tristan and Beloved happened to turn off the Theodore Tugboat video they were watching to catch the end of the animated movie "The Secret of Nihm" on cable. Whatever scene was on must have been fairly engrossing, because as I listened from the kitchen, they watched in silence for a few minutes. I couldn't help but laugh when Tristan's suddenly querulous voice asked, "Hey, put it back! Why did you change it?" It took Beloved a few beats to realize that a commercial had come on, and Tristan had no grasp of the concept.
Okay, so maybe they worship at the altar of the electric nipple, but he's almost four years old and he doesn't know what a commercial is - I can't be doing that bad of a job. (She said, justifying and rationalizing as fast as her conscience would permit.)
The next day, Beloved and Tristan were watching that animated Garfield movie while I tried to read the latest John Lescroart novel and ignore them. I couldn't help but be distracted in listening to Tristan watching the movie, though. I wasn't sure he'd sit through an entire movie, but he followed the plot and laughed at all the silliest humour, so he was getting it. But my heart nearly broke at one point when his little voice intruded into the depths of my reading trance and he said, "Mommy, Odie is lost," with all the empathy his little heart could feel. I quickly reassured him that Odie would soon be found and all would be right with dogs and cats the world over, but I couldn't get back into my book. I had to watch the rest of the movie with them, partly because I wanted to really get an idea of what he was taking in, but largely because the idea of spending a blustery Sunday afternoon lying on the couch watching a movie was something I gave up about the time the kids started noticing the glowing box in the corner - and I was happy to have it back again.
Curious George comes out in theatres some time in the next couple of weeks, and I think that will be his first cinematic experience. I can hardly wait! Popcorn, giant screens, chest-thumping speakers - I love the movies!
And finally, speaking of movies, have you seen The 40 Year Old Virgin? We finally rented that this past weekend, and it's easily one of the funniest movies of the year. If you haven't seen it, don't miss it!
I thought of this on the weekend, as Tristan and Beloved happened to turn off the Theodore Tugboat video they were watching to catch the end of the animated movie "The Secret of Nihm" on cable. Whatever scene was on must have been fairly engrossing, because as I listened from the kitchen, they watched in silence for a few minutes. I couldn't help but laugh when Tristan's suddenly querulous voice asked, "Hey, put it back! Why did you change it?" It took Beloved a few beats to realize that a commercial had come on, and Tristan had no grasp of the concept.
Okay, so maybe they worship at the altar of the electric nipple, but he's almost four years old and he doesn't know what a commercial is - I can't be doing that bad of a job. (She said, justifying and rationalizing as fast as her conscience would permit.)
The next day, Beloved and Tristan were watching that animated Garfield movie while I tried to read the latest John Lescroart novel and ignore them. I couldn't help but be distracted in listening to Tristan watching the movie, though. I wasn't sure he'd sit through an entire movie, but he followed the plot and laughed at all the silliest humour, so he was getting it. But my heart nearly broke at one point when his little voice intruded into the depths of my reading trance and he said, "Mommy, Odie is lost," with all the empathy his little heart could feel. I quickly reassured him that Odie would soon be found and all would be right with dogs and cats the world over, but I couldn't get back into my book. I had to watch the rest of the movie with them, partly because I wanted to really get an idea of what he was taking in, but largely because the idea of spending a blustery Sunday afternoon lying on the couch watching a movie was something I gave up about the time the kids started noticing the glowing box in the corner - and I was happy to have it back again.
Curious George comes out in theatres some time in the next couple of weeks, and I think that will be his first cinematic experience. I can hardly wait! Popcorn, giant screens, chest-thumping speakers - I love the movies!
And finally, speaking of movies, have you seen The 40 Year Old Virgin? We finally rented that this past weekend, and it's easily one of the funniest movies of the year. If you haven't seen it, don't miss it!
Said DaniGirl at 7:42 a.m. #
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