...bedtime

…I read a lot of bedtime stories to my kids and the ones that continue to maintain my interests are anything Dr. Seuss and fairy tales.  The fairy tales, for the most part because of how much history are behind them, and to the fact that most true old-time tales don’t end up in a disney peaceful place UNLESS the main character has gone through some really dreadful stuff.  

Goose girl anyone?


Some observations worth mentioning…

#1. Have you ever noticed features of the Queen in Snow White are similar to the fresh face princess herself? Let’s say just twenty years older? (Now wouldn’t that make a great film, the rise and fall of one beauty carried full circle.)

#2. Best characters other than the principle subject are the animals and not the prince.  Though, I thought Rapunzel was cool, yet hated her hair after the knife. (Could we not have some highlights people? Red, auburn, something?)

Last observation: The Princess and the Pea. Short recap: Prince needs to find a real princess, mother helps testing each girl who protests to be royal with a sleep over.  Hence, a pea, the size of a thumbnail yet strong enough to cause discomfort and twenty mattresses later.

All fail, except for one, she complained.

So what’s the moral of this story? Be true to yourself? Don’t be intimidated by your mother in-law? Don’t tell your betrothed you love ALL seasons of sports and could watch them EVERY signal weekend.
Speak up. Princess=preferences. Know who you are.

...scare together

…so I let my kids watch R.L Stien’s The Haunting Hour from the Hub. Warning does indicate for children age seven and older, and best watching as a family.  Past reference- I grew up on Night Gallery. Truth be told, I could only get through Rod Sterling’s gallery segments and maybe the first ten minutes of creepy fog filled folklore. (At the time, I prayed my parents would forget me sitting there, or that I’d blend in with the carpet.) It. Never. Happened. Always got caught.

Current stage, in charge, we as a family watched our first show Really You, this soon becomes family fun night and all enjoy the scares. Granted, my son, age three, covered eyes with blanket, and yes a few scenes made me jump that caused a few bad parent messages to ticker through my head. But overall affect, as a family, they were fun, adventuress and something we looked forward watching.

Words of wisdom: Not sure development wise if or when a child’s active imagination starts getting more complex but I do believe at some point, developmentally the concept of fear overtakes the feeling of security.

Hence bad parent reference #1,042 -The Return of Lily D.

The setting: On couch. Kids attention span near perfect, focused on TV show. Parents in room, also attentive. Boy, now age four holding blanket in lap.  

Finish show.

End result…mayhem.  

Not one of my kids wanted to go by themselves into their rooms. Everyone was afraid of the dark. They argued over who would get the dog.  One wanted to sleep with us, while the other cried, they wanted a friend. Bad parent alerts screamed in a crescendo throbbing pitch wail. One word.  S-T-U-P-I-D.

Moral of the story:
Don’t even go there. As a parent, wanting a little excitement. Just go on your Kindle Fire and try to find Night Gallery on Netflix or I heard Dark Shadows (THE ORGINAL) is good.

...watch out for those red shirts

I bought one of my birds a toy. It was a stuffed animal and had a clearance tag on the box for $3.98. Checked out and did not realize till later that the clearance price did not reflect the price on the receipt. Was not able to get back to store until the following weekend and this is how it went down....

Description: Twenty-four year old target employee at Guest Services. Male. Red Shirt.

"Hi, how can I help you?"

"Hi, I bought this stuffed animal for my daughter last week and I noticed that the clearance tag on the box did not match the receipt. Now, I'm not sure and maybe I'm just reading the receipt wrong, so maybe we can check it out."(Me, with receipt along with box (stuffed animal removed), showing the clearance tag of $3.98 on the box).

"Sure, let's check it out."

Scans the receipt. “Oh, you see here, the discount price shows it’s supposed to be $9.99 and not what’s marked on the box so there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“But I bought it for the $3.98 price as showed from the tag of the box.”

“Well, that is a mistake and there is nothing I can do about that because the computer says, the clearance price is $9.99. I mean you can bring it back and I can refund it but there is nothing else I can do.”

“You really want me to take a stuff animal from a four year old because you won’t give me the price that is marked on the box? What are you going to do with a stuff animal that she’s been playing with all week?”

“Well, I could call up my manager and see what they want to do.”

“Okay, let’s call the manager.”

Red shirt female manager approaches age...maybe twenty-four in a half.

“Hi, what can we do for you.”

“I bought this stuffed animal because of the clearance tag. It’s not my fault that one of your team members made a mistake and put the wrong price on the box.

“Your right, we will refund the money.”

“Thank you.”

Twenty-four male red shirt hypes in, “But the computer marks the clearance price at $9.99. There is nothing we can do about that. Can you authorize this?

"Yes, I can authorize it."

"But what if someone just put a tag on the box?"

"Wait, now you are accusing me of putting the tag on it."

"No, I'm just saying, someone could."

"Here is your refund."

Moral of the story: Stick your ground, as we get older, these jerk clerks seem younger. Those who still live at home don’t understand the importance of watching those receipts.