Fragility...

Every once in awhile, something so devastating happens that I am jolted into remembering how very fragile life is.

It happened yesterday in Boston, and it happened in December in Newtown.

I did not have a very good day yesterday. My daughter and I had a disagreement, basically, I completely lost my temper and yelled at her, a lot.

Little did I know, two hours later, hundreds of people, who were probably enjoying a wonderful day in Boston, had their lives suddenly changed forever when the first explosion happened.

My 'bad day' and my little argument with my daughter suddenly seemed so silly and inconsequential. All I wanted to do was to hold on to her as tight as I could.

My heart goes out to the people in Boston, and to all of us who lose a little piece of our innocence whenever a horrendous event like this happens.

It is unfortunate that often it is tragedies that reminds us to cherish lives. To spend quality time together. To remember that we love each other.

Going to the Theatre... sort of...

When I was a little girl, my parents took me to see Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, and I fell in love.

Now, I am by no means a theatre buff; I had been to Stratford and Shaw Festivals only once in my life - basically if you can compare to my theatre going experience to books: I am more of a Jane Austen girl as compared to War and Peace, more Dan Brown than Umberto Eco. I like theatre lite.

However, I still feel there is something quite magical about a live production; for one thing, you are watching something in actual 3D! And, it is always fun to dress up and go out on a special occasion.

So, I would really like to share the experience of going to musicals, concerts, theatres and other extravagant live shows with my little one. I think it is good for her to experience different sorts of art and culture and entertainment, and to learn to sit still.

Now, just because I want to bring my daughter to a show, does not mean I can just pick any show, buy tickets and just go. There are very important considerations.

• We have to consider subject matter – I have a five year old, so the show has to be family friendly, and for us, MUST have a happy ending. Hopefully it will be entertaining for adults as well.

• There should be a easy to follow plot – i.e. no time paradoxes, weird soap opera like subplots, or anything else that will require me to spend the entire time of the show trying to explain what is happening to my daughter.

• Colourful costumes, and cheerful characters – once again, my kid is five, and she likes colours and cute things. She is also terrified of the dark, so I doubt we will be seeing a show like Phantom of the Opera anytime soon.

• Stuff should happen (besides plot) – people or things should move, and talk/sing, and do stuff, to hold her attention. There is no way my child can sit through anything slow and cerebral, nor do I expect her to.

• Length of show - the show should not be too long, unless the show is spectacular with lots of special effects, my child cannot sit still for more than an hour at a time.

• Price – I am hoping that it would not be too expensive. I just do not want to feel bad if I have to leave in the beginning or middle of the show, or feel that I have to force my kid to stay for the entire thing even if she is not happy (“mommy and daddy paid a lot of money for this so you are staying and you are going to like it”). I understand this is not always possible, but one can hope.

So, when I saw the Disney on Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy, I thought maybe this will be a good continue introduction to live shows. Last year she saw Disney Live! presents Three Classic Fairytales and loved it.

Let us see if it can meet my pre-show checklist:

• Subject matter – it is a Disney show, and since I see nothing that would imply Old Yeller or Bambi's mom will be involved in this show, I think we are good.

• Plot – there are cars, toys, mermaids, fairies and of course two very famous mice. I think she might be happy even if there is no story.

• Colourful costumes – we are talking about cartoons coming to life, so the costumes are probably going to be pretty spectacular.

• Stuff should happen – it is an ice skating show, pretty sure there will be lots of action, spins, jumps and tricks. And, I believe there will be cars on ice (granted, I can always watch cars driving on ice by looking out my window in January...)

• Length of show and price – I am not sure how long the show is, and the tickets are not cheap, but not unreasonable either (okay, I think the top tiered seats are a little bit much, but they are supposed to be the best seat in the house).

I think my kid might really enjoy this show. Hopefully, if she has a great experience, she will be more open to other kinds of shows (the only show she likes so far is the ballet the Nutcracker, and I can only watch the Nutcracker so many times before I go nuts, and my wallet empties)

And maybe, when she is older, we can do a family trip to Stratford or Shaw.

For more information about the show, please visit Disney On Ice .

Fine Print:
Feld Entertainment may be providing me with complimentary tickets to this show, in exchange for my time and efforts in attending the show, and reporting my opinion within this blog. However, the opinions about the show, and everything else are 100 per cent mine.
pictures courtesy of Disney characters and artwork, © Disney. Disney/Pixar characters and artwork © Disney/Pixar.    

Favourite Times

I saw a question couple of days ago asking: if you can freeze time, at what age or stage would you freeze your child?

And, it got me thinking about and looking at my daughter. I was shocked at how much she has grown, both literally (I swore those pants fit her better last week) and figuratively.

My little one is four now, and I am fascinated by this age and stage. One minute she appears to be so mature, so wise; and then the next minute, I swear she suddenly turned 14, and has become some eye rolling teenager; and just a quick moment after that, she is my little baby again. It is quite an adventure to be experiencing all these stages simultaneously, and seeing such big emotions and reactions coming from such a little body.

But then thinking back, there were highs and lows in all the ages and stages that we have gone through together so far.

I remember I loved being pregnant. It was the only time when I did not have to share my little girl, for nine months, she was all mine. On the other hand, I really did not enjoy almost throwing up every time I brushed my teeth – do you know how much it sucks to brush your teeth, feel nausea, throw up, and then have to brush your teeth again, followed by more nausea, it was some cruel never ending cycle... I was also not particularly thrilled about not seeing my feet, and the stretch marks suck too.

After she was born, I watched her grow and be more aware of her environment. With every day, every week, and every month that passed, she became more and more fun and more interactive with her father and me. And by the time she was one, she started to walk, and can even say a few words! I never thought I could love someone so much. I also never thought my back could hurt so much. And, how in the world was she able to tell when I was not paying attention, and wait until that exact moment to do something dangerous? Also, I missed being able to put her down and finding her again in the exact spot where I placed her.

And then in a blink of an eye, she was two. A very talkative little two year old at that. She loved telling me about her imaginary dogs, and friends, and pointing to things and asking lots of questions. It was amazing to see the world through her little inquisitive eyes; she was just fascinated by everything! On the other hand, one can only answer the question: WHY? so many times each day. Also, at about this age, my daughter discovered her favourite word is NO!

Wow, and before I know it, she was three. She started going to pre-school, so I got a couple of mornings off, YEAH! I think this was when we both learned to be more independent. And, my little girl was definitely independent, or maybe just stubborn. At this point, she started to help a bit more around the house, like setting her own spot at the table, sorting through her laundry, and putting her toys away (okay, throwing it in a basket, which was good enough for me). She was also toilet trained!!! So no more diapers!!! But independence had its draw backs too, by insisting on doing EVERYTHING “self”, it sometimes took us three times as long to do anything. For the most part, I did not mind, but it was a little bit annoying if you were trying to leave the house on time. Also at three, my little one was starting to talk a lot more. The problem with a very vocal child, was that sometimes their vocal skills were aimed at me, sigh... yep, my little angel was starting to argue and talk back at us. I am so not looking forward to the teenage years.

And now, we have come full circle, right back to now.

So, I guess, in this long rambling post, to answer the original question: I do not think I want to freeze time, as my favourite stage is NOW! Yes, there are things that suck, but for the most part, I love her to bits, and raising her is an exciting, and wonderful adventure (for the both of us I hope).

Do you have a favourite stage/age for your child?