We're not killing Bambi

Me: Erin, can I ask you a question?  What do think about hunting?

Erin: I'd like to go.

Me: Really?

Erin: Yeah.  I really want to go hunting. It would be fun.  

Me: So you are OK with killing animals for meat?

Erin: Yeah.  Killing them for no reason is wrong.  For food is ok.  I'd really like some deer meat.

Me:  You know, some people may tell you that you are killing  Bambi

Erin:  Moooommm.. you don't kill the babies.  There's no meat on them.  That's just wrong.

the power of old movies

I don't believe in total censorship at home. Some movies we'll not watch with Erin to avoid the nightmare issue or long explanation of what that man and woman were doing. But, if its on and she comes stumbling in, I don't panic. She's usually not interested.

Last night we watched "Streetcar named Desire". She made it quite a ways through. I passed out before it ended. Now, this morning the questions came.

"mommy? Why were the girls, you know, Stella and the other one - why were they not in color?" Ok - valid question and I went on to explain that some movies were made in Black and white and not color.

"Why did they put the man in the shower?" Huh? Oh - after a drunken Poker game Stanley flies into a rage and passes out thus needing a cold shower to cool him down. I didn't tell the kid that. My response went something like this.
"well, Stanley got really mad and his friends wanted to get him to calm down". The kid interjects - "Yeah, he threw the Radio out the window cause he didn't want the lady dancing". Wow. I continued "Correct. He was just very angry and being very mean. Being mean is not good"

Kid then goes on "Well, I get mean cause I want you to pay attention to me". BLAMO! Self admission from a 4 year old as to why she throws her temper tantrums. It took "Streetcar named Desire" to get her to see that mean wasn't good. She saw how Stanley being mean scared the ladies and she didn't like that.

I proceeded "Well, if you act mean, I don't want to pay attention to you or talk to you. I don't like it when you are mean. If you are a nice girl and listen, we'd pay MORE attention to you and not yell."

Light clicks on for Erin "Yeah, so if I'm not mean, we can talk more!" She may finally have turned a corner. Thank you Tennessee Williams.

I've been had...

"Mommy, my belly hurts" says the flush faced almost 4 year old. Sniffle, cough and moan. Head and face are warm. Hmmm.. so we send her to school and wait for the call or keep her home?

"Ok - home it is" - Calls are made and laptop is brought out. Run to the store and child is happy and singing... hmmmmm....

Get home and child proceeds to dance and sing... still warm and cough is there BUT only when I ask how she feels. "Mom, I'm not sick"....

"What!?! If you are not sick, then you go to school" Child then proceeds to cough. Whining "I'm sick". Which is it? Sick or not sick.

I know a cold/flu can feel. Achy yet can manage to be social. I do it all the time. I work when I'm sick. I'm an idiot. So home we are. I'm working (well, trying to with having to disconnect and reconnect the VPN which is a pain) and Erin is watching cartoons. She still says her belly hurts so we'll see.

I HAVE A GIRLY GIRL!

I was desperate. Yes... its 10 degrees ( -10 with the wind). I needed bread, dinner and milk. I needed a haircut. So, I took my hour lunch at 1:30 and took the kid to the salon. Now, I can hear it "She's not even 4!". But can a preschooler make conversation with the stylist, follow directions and not wiggle while she's getting her bangs cut? MINE CAN!

Erin is FANTASTIC when I take her to get her hair cut. She sits and listens and strikes up a conversation like any blue haired regular. I HAVE A GIRLY GIRL! She was in one chair and I was in the other. She's talking to me and the girls and didn't freak when I went to get my fair cut.

So $30 later plus tip, my daughter is primped and beautiful. Wait.. that didn't sound right. That was for the both of us. Not bad actually. $22 for me and $8 for her.