Children's Movies Part II

Mom knows best.
She called with a few...additions to our previous movie list.

As she reminded me of An American Tail... I said "ooooh you're right!!" and immediately started singing



I immediately started to get teary eyes.
And as we found it on YouTube, the tears came in full force... I can't IMAGINE how traumatic it was as a 5 year old, knowing that it STILL causes sobbing!! Good Lord!

But oooh what a great great movie.


Mom's second reminder was that of.... The Land Before Time...
I don't know if i have anything left in me to ...suck it up and remind you of how tragic THAT one was...



*siiigh*
I need to go find a new box of kleenex.

They sure don't make kids movies like that anymore.

On the List

I found this today via Babble.com


We ...definitely are adding it to the "things we probably definitely need..."

sooo cool
I don't know who would be worse about playing with the food though, jared or jr.

oooh cnn.com

There was an article this morning on CNN titled "Indian woman accused of selling baby for $130"

At first glance ones jaw drops a little bit, but... well first, here is the article

NEW DELHI, Indian (CNN) -- A 20-year-old poverty-stricken woman has been charged for selling her newborn baby boy, police in southern India said Tuesday.

The woman allegedly sold her child for 6,500 rupees (about $130) to an auto rickshaw driver because she wanted to marry someone else after the child's father abandoned her, according to police.

Prakash Jadhav of Khammam district police in Andhra Pradesh state, told CNN that the child's buyer had also been charged.

If convicted, both the woman and the driver face up to 10 years in prison, Jadhav said. Now... a few things...
First, New Delhi is now in "Indian" instead of India...
Second... I have mixed feelings about this... she should have just put it up for adoption - my guess, however, is that it maybe isn't as easy to do as one might think... things are complicated.
Third... 10 years in jail for... selling the kid instead of ... leaving it by a dumpster. Sure, she didn't do the best thing, she didn't. But ... I don't know CNN this was... one of the more disappointing reads in terms of complete LACK of information. Are we supposed to be offended and appalled that it was for only $130 instead of $170?

All i know is that... our child we'd have to sell for... the price of a house, and... all that came along with that. ;) Not that we'd ever sell our kid or anything........ Actually a few years from now, For $20 (...eaah lets say $30 for inflation...) you can have him for an hour at a time while he mows your lawn. Must send him back home with brownies and ice cream.

A Chance

*clears throat*
however.... our child has even LESS of a chance...knowing who his extended family will be...

Exhibit A: Aunts and Uncles

Amie (she's...eve)


Erica


Josh



Exhibit B: the Extended Aunts and Uncles Category

Jesse and Sami


Bob and Angie

(bob likes to...attack bushes...)



Brooke
(okay, this one Might be our saving grace.......)


Kris

she also tries drying her pants directly on wood burning stoves......

Yep, jr will learn a LOT from this one...

Drew


Randy
(he's really good with the kids!...)


Maria
she may also be a saving grace, actually... if she doesn't go to grad school or...something mature like that...

HA!!
no ...no.... sorry maria, One good picture does not save you from the hundreds more like this:



Which brings me to the next person:
Jessica
(if she doesn't go get a job in like...somewhere far far away...


Josh D


And last, but most certainly not least!!!
Paul



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All joking aside...
We have an unbeatable support team.

...maybe, just maybe jr. Will have a chance afterall.......

Genetics

*clears throat*
ha.
I just wanted to point out that... this is us.
In fact, these happen to be our facebook profile pictures....
aaand uuum... i can't quite figure out if it means our child is lucky, or if it simply means that this kid doesn't have a chance!

hahahahahaha....

*yes, jared forgot to ...return the bowling shoes after a night of bowling...

baby raising instructions

I am not even going to... write anything with this one...

Disturbing Kid Movies

I grabbed a few of these from Babble and felt they would be appropriate for here... and fun to post about...
The title of the article is:


Now...
Some parents/people believe their children should be protected to the greatest extent. Prolong any...life sadness or life/grown-up realities until the child is old enough to learn these first-hand. Some children's filmmakers however believe that kids ought to learn BEFORE ever Actually experiencing the trauma...

I believe this is the... thought process/purpose of this article, anyway.
Which movies... educate through trauma.

Bambi for example.

for those of you who don't know - ...uuuh Bambi's mom GETS SHOT. If that is not one of the most terrifying thoughts to put into a child's head... well. ... i don't know. ... but I'm not sure if the moral of the story really does enough to overcome that ...Bambi's mom GETS SHOT and DIES.
I am still crying about it.

A just plain Weird one - though I LOVED it as a youngster (and still)

Willy Wonka!!
One disclaimer that should be given is that it IS originally a Roald Dohl (an all-time personal favorite author) story... and all of his works had at least a speck of darkness. Ooooh they are such a joy to read. BUT... Willy Wonka the film...especially the original, is... I don't think this one is teaching a lesson in overcoming trauma as much as... "hey, this is what an acid trip is like" ... if your child really totally DIGS that scene, ........keep a careful eye in the years to come???

And speaking of Roald Dohl, we probably shouldn't fail to mention The Witches


And Matilda - ..the Trunchbull is such a GREAT character!! And the Chokee that the bad kids go in - remember, its basically a medieval torture chamber... SUUUCH a good book/movie!!!

James and the Giant Peach was also made into a movie!!!! And... who can forget the wicked wicked aunts who James had to go live with. I don't remember who he ended up living with in the peach... or what all happened... but.... i do remember that in the beginning, it described his WONDERFUL life........until his parents died in a car accident, which is why he has to move in with his aunts. ...And if that is the One part i remember from reading that when I was...8 years old... it must have meant SOMETHING.

Oh Roald Dohl, how we will forever miss you.

Where was I?

Another, which many of you might argue with me on, is Dumbo.
Look, as a kid, I don't honestly remember it being SO bad. But I watched it again a few years ago and... I bawled.

And it isn't because of any One particular event, it is because this movie, more than ANY other i can think of, flashes the statement... life is cruel and people suck.

.....

Anyway... If you have more to add, feel free. I got on that Roald Dohl kick and now really just want to go dig out one of his books to read... with a cup of tea and... some blankets... mmmmmmm....

I wonder if we'll be the type of parents to... disregard the fact that some of these movies will bring tears - and count it as a lesson. Or...is that some form of child abuse? Doing something, knowing it will make someone cry... but doing it because they'll learn a lesson... seems like Some form of abuse. ....Then again, I continue to watch Grey's Anatomy every week, knowing full and well that there will Probably be a scene that will make me cry. And every week I come back... *siiigh*

We will give the child ice cream afterward and it will all work out.

We can at least Hope

Often times Jared and I joke around about things we plan to "do" to our child. They're riddled with sarcasm and jokes. But in reality, we're very aware of the adventure ahead of us. We're aware that jr. is going to be a sponge - watching us, learning from us. We may never know when we will run into financial struggles, we may never know what city/town we will be moving to next, but what we do know and have control over are the values we have.

I'm not usually this sappy... And when I am, I don't usually share it. But considering that so often, the things we post here are more in the 'funny' realm ...I guess it is probably good to share the more serious side of us...


.....

I hope that we gather around together in the living room after our days at school/work. We all, as a family, take the time to unwind and hear about one anothers day. And we share without feeling like we have to lie about it. I hope he never feels he has to lie about his day. I hope we disagree about things, but without judgement.... When he wants to wear his pants that are Way too big, I may disagree with it, but not be too quick to judge or make assumptions.

I hope we include others in our family. My grandma let my un-official uncle Joel live with them for a while when he needed a home, and my Mom gave Amber a home when her mom didn't want her anymore. I can only hope that if/when the time comes where he has a friend who needs a family, we can be there. I hope that he too someday has the opportunity to feel what it is to show someone what having a "family" can be.

I hope he is as forgiving as myself and Jared both are. We will make mistakes. Sometimes we will make mistakes that are huge (remembering that scene from "I am Sam." ...). And I hope when those times come, he is resilient, curious, able to evolve, comfortable enough to inquire, daring enough to accept, and humble enough to reach out.

I hope we share and listen. I hope he learns to be supportive - of others and of himself. I hope he welcomes new ideas and perspectives. I hope that he sees life and its challenges as the process that it is, and not do things simply for the outcome. ...I hope he rides a bike because he Loves the wind at his back, not because he ever wants to win a medal (though, if he Also wanted to win, i wouldn't complain hahaha).

I hope that when he encounters people who are different than himsefl, he is... amused and charmed by it. That he doesn't turn away or give in to stereotypes, that he doesn't judge or belittle; but that he embraces those differences and makes room for everyone.

I hope he is gentle with himself.

I hope he learns to be grateful for the obstacles he will encounter. That ...he rises from them with... wiser, stronger, more brave, and smarter. And that from them, he is on one hand humbled, and on the other aware of how truly unstoppable we are as humans.

I hope he learns how to hold close both physically and emotionally. And that he is able to do so sometimes without a single selfish thought... but just because he Knows the other person needs it in that moment. With that, I hope he also learns how to let go... and when to do which of these.

Above all else, ...I hope hope hope he will understand how unbelievably loved he is. And not just by us, but... by our close friends (his unofficial aunts and uncles), by his real aunts and uncle, by his grandparents and even by Luda... :D (c'mon, Luda will probably be more protective than Any of us!).

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You might be thinking... "good luck with that" but... we think that ... its at least a start Knowing what we do value and hope for if nothing else as something to look back on when we start falling off track. We can at least hope...

bloggless

We don't have much to blog about these days
Things are normal and smooth, nothing new or exciting is happening...

school school school school work.
We do actually have some fun blog ideas, but... not much time to sit and put them together!!
SO you're going to get a quick/fun photo splurge...

of Luda


he loves the back yard.


he also loves tennis balls


I would actually consider it a love/hate relationship...


he is quite the hog about his toys...


but he is also quite possibly one of the funniest things you've seen when he tries....gathering them all up together, but can't figure out that he has to drop the one out of his mouth before picking up the next one, so then the one in his mouth falls out and bounces against hte wall, and he has to track it down, and he must be having a convo in his head something like this "but WAIT! what about the original one i was trying to get!?? shit! okay okay, get the red ball first, then the green ball. But the red ball is still in my mouth..........*siiigh* i'm going to go find the kitty."

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in more baby related news....
we can actually SEE the little guy kicking around in there:

its Soooo trippy.
It really is like some alien parasite growing in there and it wants out....

I know i know, anyone reading who has already had kids is like "yep, that's what happens."
But for others, it isn't really comprehendible until its Actually happening!!!!

Things we'll never buy - but that kim thinks are awesome

I found these at CyclingTees.com and I had to waste a bit of time digging for the GOOD ones... but... here are just a few (there are pages and pages and pages!!!!)