Kids & Movies

I remember when Bowen was a tiny tot and how if he was cantankerous all you had to do to calm him down and bring peace to the house was to pop one of his favorite movies into the VCR. The ones he love the most were "Tiny Toons Adventures: How I Spent My Summer Vacation", "A Goofy Movie" and "An American Tale: Fievel Goes West"

I was reminded of this because last night and the night before I babysat my nephew Noah. In the past we've watched episode after episode of Barney or Blue's Clues. He's kind of outgrown them (not by much) and has developed a taste for full-length features. Sadly, the only one in our collection that he wants to watch is "Madagascar." We have lots of DVDs of kids' movies including "Monsters, Inc.", "The Incredibles", "Finding Nemo" and my personal favorite, "My Neighbor Totoro" among many others on VHS. Any attempt to watch anything other than "Madagascar" was answered with wailing and tears. So I watched the movie three times in two nights. The fourth time around (God help me) I tried to watch it with the penguins' commentary, but the boy was not having it...

Thankfully his mom showed up about 15 minutes into the fourth screening and I was spared having the film forever burned into my conscienceness for at least a week. A few lines are reverberating through my skull, nonetheless.

"Well, of course we're going to throw poo at him."

"Cut and cuddly, boys. Cute and cuddly."

"I have a crown! It's a very nice one! It's here on my head!"

"You hate them compared to how much I love them"

"Of course we bozos have the peoples"

"Smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave."