Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Zzzz...

Yay! We've night-weaned Una and this has cured the night-waking. Or at least the night-parenting. She still wakes, but she just thrashes about moaning for a minute and puts herself back to sleep. I feel like a successful parent in control of my life. Don't worry, it's only a brief but pleasant illusion brought on by the sweet sweet natural drug: sleep. I wouldn't exactly say I feel like a new woman but I feel like me again, and that's all I could ask for.
And it's going to be twenty degrees today. And tomorrow is the last day of winter. And we're going to K-Mart to buy Fred a new pillow and Fred and Una get to pick one schleich animal each (Fred tells me Una would like a cat.) Fred had her first pony ride on Saturday on a roly Shetland called Mickey, and on Monday Martin took her to see Curious George with free tickets sent to us by Quickflix after our free trial. Martin says the movie is highly recommended for little kids, and he enjoyed her enjoying it but there's not much in it for adults - no ironic subtexts or witty asides. No scary bits (which is great for Fred but the lack of scary bits does often mean there's less tension for adults). Curious George was not part of my childhood or Martin's, and Fred hasn't encountered the books yet, but they're clearly going for an instant nostalgia feel in the movie with the bright but muted colours. I wonder how people who loved the books as children will relate to the film. It sounds like it hasn't really been made for past fans but for a generation of new ones, in which case, as often happens for the post-dvd generation, the movie may well supersede the books. Sigh. Being a book-lover, this always makes me feel a little sad but I think I am probably projecting values of my generation (some of my friends had VHS players in mid-primary, we didn't get one will I was well into high school. I knew one girl with a BETA. Snigger.) onto children of today who will be much better at switching between mediums and making sense of and drawing meaning from the fragmented narrative. And I am glad that Fred could have a cinema experience that was pure enjoyment for her.
Fred's favourite book at the moment is Tashi by Anna and Barbara Fienberg, illustrated by Kim Gamble. It's been an excellent introduction to the idea of a chapter book with two short chapters that can easily be read in one sitting. I can't wait till she's ready for longer books.
Una's is Woof woof: baby flip-a-face by SAMi. Lots of delcious books to look at on the publisher's website (Blue Apple Books). Nice site too.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:54 PM

    I discovered the Curious George board books a few months ago and just love them. I wouldn't say they're Grace's favourite, as she's currently going through the button pushing phase, but they do get multiple readings. When I saw the film teasers, I was dissapointed that they seem to have lost the charm of the originbal drawings. Maybe I'm suffering book before film syndrome? Glad to read you got some sleep, it's best thing isn't it..

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  2. Anonymous8:57 PM

    Glad you're getting some sleep again. It makes an enormous difference to life. I smiled at your reference to tha VHS. Well do I remember the teenage hyperbole! "We desperatley need a VHS. Everyone in the world has a video player except us!" Then when we finally got one it seemed to be inhabited by a less than friendly spirit. Perhaps it had a poltergeist inside.

    Do you have a picture of Fred on the pony? She is certainly an adventurous little girl.

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  3. Well actually I went looking for a 'beta is so daggy' link and it turns out beta had streetcred and was the superior system and VHS are evil. So you were street Tracey.
    No photos, none of us remembered the camera.

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