Thursday, January 12, 2012

Tales and Old as Time

So despite our efforts to introduce sports and dinosaurs and the color blue into our house, we live in a land of ballet and pink and princesses. It really is a tale as old as time, and one of the reasons why I am so glad that Disney makes princesses that don't just swirl in pink dresses waiting for their prince to arrive anymore. The princesses of today are brave and smart and bold.

Enter Belle, one of the favorites in our house. So when we were given the opportunity to see Beauty and the Beast 3D this weekend, I jumped at the chance. And you know what, it was fantastic. Most 3D movies give me a headache, but the cartoon had a different perspective to to. The big dance scenes were wonderfully animated and 3D-a-fied.

Most tellingly though, is the fact that both girls sat through the movie. This is a first for our family. Sure, it might have been the novelty of seeing one of their favorites on a big screen, with popcorn and sporting funny glasses - but that doesn't explain the whispers of "Ooooo, fancy."

If your on the fence about wether is you should pay money to go see a movie that has already been watched 1000 times from DVD, go see it. It is worth it!

* The tickets to the screening were complementay (we still shelled out $25.00 for popcorn though), and the complements are all my own. Good job Disney!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

On the Other Side

So this weekend was SO. MUCH. BETTER. than last weekend.

Writing the last post made me feel lighter. At Blogher, one of the sessions I actually attended railed against the idea of just manically typing and hitting publish. I think that is bullshit, because it works. It did what I intended it to do, make me feel better.

I think Gracie could see the crazy in my eye. On the way home Friday afternoon, we had a long conversation about how she would loose a lot of privileges this weekend if she didn't act appropriately. Toys would be confiscated, televisions would be unplugged, timeouts would be administered. There were a lot of  "Yes, Mama's" uttered, but I was not a believer.

That night at dinner was the first time in weeks that Clare didn't throw her food on the ground in protest and try to stand on my plate. When Clare started to give us the "How dare you feed me!" stink eye, Gracie broke out in song and they were both laughing within seconds. The rest of the dinner was spent singing The Wheels on the Bus, with occasional Olivia interludes. It was bliss.

New Years Eve was filled with a trip to the zoo for the girls, much needed alone time for me and one of the best 9pm sans-children at home dinners we've ever experienced. It is amazing what a bottle and a half of champagne and two hours of uninterrupted conversation can do for the psyche.

Most of all, thank you for the comments and support. Knowing that I am not alone (or crazy) is the perfect catharsis to heal the wounds of last weekend.