Furry Happy Monsters

A couple of weeks ago Maleficent popped up as a choice on the minions' Netflix profile.  Molly begged us to let her watch it.  I had previously watched, and reviewed the movie when it first came out in theatres back in 2014 (you can read the review here).  We both paused a little bit, before finally allowing the kids to watch the film, bracing ourselves for nightmares and anything else that could possibly follow.

One of the best things about routinely writing about your kids, and children's films is that you have access to a written record of what really happened, compared to a fuzzy memory of a movie you watched several years ago.  At the time I watched Maleficent I decreed that I would allow the minions to watch the movie (under supervision) when they were around six years old, if I felt they could handle it.

Creepy Clown's don't faze Molly, At All!

We sat down on a rainy weekend afternoon and watched the film together, pressing pause when the kids had questions, and being very active in the premiere viewing.  They weren't scared, they weren't bored, they (Molly in particular) were entranced.

This movie was a game changer for the minions.  Certain moments, experiences, and life teachers can alter a person's way of thinking, this movie did that for the kids, and it was freaking amazing!

Maleficent is about how someone can be both a hero and a villain.  It explains regret, and the grey areas.  It talks about greed, ambition, anger, regret, and forgiveness.  It shows the other side of a story that both Molly and Jack know well, but will never look at the same way ever again.

Their minds were blown...and I doubt they'll ever look at good and evil quite the same way ever again, and it's awesome. The conversations sparked were interesting and insightful.  For them five was the absolute perfect age to watch this movie (DISCLAIMER: please don't blame me if your kid watches this movie and has nightmares).

Chris and I love Halloween, we quite honestly have more Halloween "stuff" than we do Christmas stuff.  For years we've toned down the creepy level of our decor in favour of a little more family friendly options.  We've also waited on watching one of Chris's favourite films, The Nightmare Before Christmas, fearing that it, specifically the Oogie Boogie Man, would give the minions traumatising nightmares.

Welcome to Skull City

Last weekend we put on the film Nightmare Before Christmas and crossed our fingers.  As the song played explaining Halloween Town, and how all of the creatures had a job to be scary, we paused to see if the kids were okay.  Molly said, "So it's their job to be scary, but they're not mean, just like the song....kewl kewl kewl." and that was the end of it.  (She didn't actually say kewl kewl kewl, but the sentiment was there, I assure you).  Following the film we listened to the soundtrack on our way to a hike while the Molly and Jack played with old Nightmare Before Christmas "action figures" (toys) of Chris's.

Last night we put out all of the Halloween decorations, no scary ornament left in a box, and they didn't care.  I think they'd still be scared of the Shadow Man from The Frog Prince, but so am I (that guy is terrifying). I can't wait for them to see Wicked!  This is a whole new world of parenting fun, and I'm thrilled to get started.

To Read about combatting nightmares click here.


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A Crow on my Shoulder

I often write about my grandmother, Alice, partially because she's the grandparent I knew the longest, but also because she was quite the character in a pretty amazing and very sassy way.  In later years she'd spend a lot of her time betting with us on reality TV, talking about how handsome Benjamin Bratt is, or clipping interesting newspaper articles for her children and grandchildren to read.

This week I saw an article that I would have clipped for her because of a very fond memory I have from my childhood.  One time my grandmother told me about a special crow, named Sammy, who would trade small shiny objects for other shiny objects.  At my grandmother's instruction I placed a shiny black button in my backyard, and a few days later found it replaced by a coin.   The following week I put out a paper clip and found a glass marble a few days later, and so on.  Turns out my grandmother had given my mom a giant bag of shiny objects (random junk from around her house that could conceivably fit into a crow's beak) and had my mom play the role of Sammy, the Geocaching Crow.

Maleficent and her crow named Diaval or Diablo (depending on the movie) Courtesy of Fan Pop

This week I saw an article about a little girl who has been feeding and receiving gifts from a murder of crows and I immediately thought of Alice.  Gabi has been feeding crows since she was four (she's eight now) and they have been leaving her a number of gifts in return for some time now (to read more click here).  They also have followed her to school, and I assume made her their queen.

While it would be nice to start up a "Sammy" tradition, with the minions, I don't like birds (they freak me out) and I'm not sure how our neighbours would feel about a gang of crows hanging around our house.  I'm also not so sure that I am interested in raising the real life version of Daenerys Targaryen or Maleficent.  All the same it made me think of my grandmother, and smile.  Thank you Gabi for reminding me of my grandmother and Sammy the Crow.  Please don't send your army of birds out to attack me or poop on my car!

Image of Daenerys Targaryen courtesy of Wikipedia.

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