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Monday, July 13, 2009

The movie "Up"

I took Astrid to see the movie, "Up" today. We got home at 6:30 and it was sweltering inside the house. I got an idea to go to the movies - for the cool air conditioning - and also because I had heard people raving about "Up". It was playing at 7 PM - so Astrid and I jumped in the car and went and saw the movie.

And this is what my 4 year old got out of it:

Astrid: "Why the man hit him on the head and make blood come out? And why the police come?"

Mama: "Well he didn't want the man touching his mailbox and he got really angry. But you can't just hit people, or you'll get in trouble."

Astrid: "Yeah you can't hit people. You're supposed to say - 'Please don't do that that.' Right mama?"

Mama: "That's right."

Astrid: "I say sorry when I push people at school sometimes. And they supposed to apologize to me too. When you hurt someone on accident you have to apologize."

Who knew there was a built in proverb?

Astrid translates

Astrid was telling me about a phrase her one male teacher sometimes uses - "knock it off". Having never heard it used before she deduced what it meant as follows.

"Mr. Sabat says, 'Knock it off'. That means stop. He says that when everybody is doing things that they're not supposed to be doing."

I thought that was pretty good for a 4 year old.

Friday, July 03, 2009

Child Observations

"Mama - look she has a BIG tummy!"

Astrid will point out the obvious thinking it's funny & doesn't want me to miss out on the funny sight. I know there's no malice or mean intentions to any of her observations, but she says it so loudly that the person can overhear her, so at that point I have to put on my mom hat and "shhh" her and remind her to be nice.

We were sitting next to a couple with a little girl who had the oddest features. Big eyes with a bushy uni brow and an oddly shaped mouth with an overbite. Astrid kept trying to point her out to me (obviously I saw her right away) so I kept trying to distract Astrid. Finally Astrid said, "Look mom - she has a funny face! Hahaha." Oh boy - the kid's parents were sitting right next to us. So embarrassing. She's going to get me in trouble one of these days.

As a kid she comments on everything she sees. Like "Why is he in a wheelchair mom?" I don't mind explaining to her that maybe he/she got into an accident or maybe they were born with a disability and can't walk. But I try to minimize the finger pointing and exclaiming really loudly - telling her that she can hurt someones feelings by doing that. She can whisper to me and I'll explain it to her.

Usually after her pointing and exclamation - after my reminder not to be so loud and to be nice - she'll whisper to me, "Mom - look at that man. He has a BIG tummy." Okay that's better.