Monthly Archive

Last night, as I was tucking sis into bed she started to cry. I asked what was wrong and she said she was worried that someone was going to come into the house and shoot her while she was sleeping. Then she punched me in the stomach and I hope to breathe again in the next 8-10 days.

Sometimes she cries about witches or pirates or monsters under her bed, but this. This was different. Usually, my reaction is to get angry. I get angry because I don’t want her to worry about stupid things like witches or pirates or monsters under her bed. I want her fall asleep dreaming of bike rides and ferris wheels and lightning bugs. “Think happy thoughts,” I tell her. Just like my mom told me. Of course, it doesn’t work. I know it won’t work even before I say it. Still, I say it. Every time.

I guess I feel like if I let her talk about it, my acknowledgment will only make it worse. Yes, I’m painfully aware of how dumb that is, but if my kid is upset and I can’t make it better, I don’t want to know about it.

One night awhile back, I let her go on and on about the terrible pirates. She also brought up the mean octopus lady from The Little Mermaid. I told her that most any story has someone who needs to be “the bad guy” in order to keep things interesting. It’s all just made up stuff that someone wrote. They’re just characters. Kids are supposed to be a little bit scared – it’s part of the story. This all seemed to make sense to her and she seemed to feel better. So now when something comes up, I will generally ask her about her fears and we talk about it. But when she told me that she was worried about someone coming into the house to shoot her, I got angry again. I didn’t know what to say, so I asked her how she would have thought of that. Turns out she saw a commercial on tv when we were out to dinner that night.

Generally, if the kids are up past 8pm and we’re watching tv (American Idol, Deal or No Deal (don’t judge)), we pause the dvr and then roll through the commercials. Or if I’m in the kitchen, sis will cover her eyes to avoid seeing anything scary. But Grandma was with the kids while we were out, and let’s just say she’s not entirely comfortable using the dvr yet. So, sis saw a commercial for a show where someone gets shot in their bed.

I started in about how it’s just all made up, but this time I felt uncomfortable explaining that adult shows have bad guys too and that this is what we watch for entertainment. In truth, I haven’t been able to watch this kind of stuff myself since we had kids. I used to love shows like ER and the Sopranos, but I just can’t take it anymore. Why would anyone want to watch a dying baby in the emergency room FOR FUN. Obviously, as a tv producer, I appreciate the artistic value of even the most violent tv shows and movies (as long as they are done VERY well), but I’ve noticed that the line between truth and fiction seems to have blurred for me as much as it is blurred for my six year-old. It’s too painful to watch kids being hurt, parents divorcing, the yelling, the fighting, the killing, the dying. It makes me anxious even though I know it’s fake, because you and I know that it’s not THAT fake.

John Schneider, a local columnist from the Lansing State Journal, posted a letter on his blog yesterday that was written by Holt High School students who are upset that NBC chose to show the disturbing footage that the Virginia Tech shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, sent to the network. Like Schneider, I’m relieved that students are thinking critically about what the media presents and why they make the choices they do. Whether or not one agrees with the stand the students are taking (they are choosing to boycott the network until they issue an apology for airing the tape), it’s refreshing to see students voicing their opinions and weighing their options to take such a stand. These kids are smart.

They point out that, “NBC and its affiliates, are part of the most powerful and influential network of media outlets in the world. Its influence reaches almost every American city and enters the homes, and lives, of millions of Americans daily.”

By boycotting NBC, they hope to “..see the media rise to a more humane level by setting their sights on moral, ethical and responsible journalism rather than journalism that attracts advertisers.”

They are essentially asking for less sensationalism and a more even-handed approach to the news and I think we can all benefit from that. Kids like those in Mr. Couturier’s government class at Holt High School have the ability to turn the media on it’s head and make executives listen. When I was their age I was boycotting Burger King because I thought their ads were too mean to Mc Donalds. My how things have changed.

I saw this game controler in Warren Buckleitner’s column in the NY Times.  Little brother would LOVE this thing.  He just turned three and hasn’t done much gaming, but man does he love to “ride” the motorcycles and race cars at the arcade.  Big Sis is almost six.  She’s been playing games on the computer for a couple of years, but brother lacks a certain restraint with the keyboard.  He’s much more deliberate with his feet.  I’m curious to see how touchy it is hooked up to the tv and manipulating the software.  I have a feeling that if we hooked this thing up to the tv, he’d log about thirty 30 miles a day.   I wonder if there’s a weight limit.

The other day, as I was stuffing another one of my daughter’s glitter-glue masterpieces into the trash, I was thinking that there has to be a better way. What kind of mother throws away their kids’ artwork? As I strategically covered the evidence with the morning’s coffee grounds and half eaten toast, I realized – a desperate one.

Don’t they do anything in Kindergarten other than make art projects? I have run out of places to put them, people. I love my kid, but dang.

So, I have decided to do what any rational, loving mother would do. Keep them ALL. I will simply take a picture of each one with my digital camera and upload it to Flicker for the next 12 years.  Done and done.

Check this out from USA TODAY.

Apparently, kids are savvy.  Girls especially are savvy.  Girls who like lip gloss are the savvyerest of all.  So savvy, that marketers are being FORCED to cave into their demand for lip gloss wands and hussy sweatsuits at an earlier and earlier age.

Oh how I hate the first post. I’m trying to picture you (imaginary readers) in your underwear.

Off I go to the second post where there’s a lot less pressure. Toodles!