Thursday 13 November 2014

Turtle Power!

"I remember when these were trendy the first time around". I may be in the minority, but I feel a bit smug saying this to my children. I love it when they love something that I love(d).

When my girls were little and very into Care Bears, they were most impressed that I had carefully preserved half-coloured in colouring in book from when I was about 10 (yes, I also realise that I am a total pack-rat. I am getting better - promise!). My love of the Care Bears may have also been the reason why they each got a Care Bear that Christmas, and why we still have them. (Ok. I do realise I still have to work on the pack rack tendencies).

A few years later, I was horrified because the girls didn't know what Smurfs were. A quick trip to the DVD shop and I rectified that gap in their pop-cultural knowledge. Sadly, they were not impressed by the cartoons. Fast forward a few years and, much to my annoyance, they were begging to take DVDs out again after the new Smurf movies were released. Pixie may have informed me that it was different now they were cool again.

Humph. Children. Who would have them?

I was re-telling this story and some genius decided to say my time would have been better off introducing them to Shakespeare. I did point out that I had that covered already, and that I was aiming for well-rounded children, and that sharing my 80's childhood was important. Perhaps not my finest moment, but true!

I also gave the girls my precious Princess Ringlet (who had a rainbow mane and a "growing" tail), when they loved My Little Pony and were old enough to not wash her or cut her hair or leave her outside.

My most recent conversion has been the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT for those of you old enough to remember).

I took Tink and the Pixie to see them at the drive-ins. Buglet didn't wan to go. This was a great plan that did not pan out. The drive-ins reached maximum capacity and closed the gate two cars before us. The girls were so good about it and didn't complain at all (plus I really wanted to see it) so we raced home (not exceeding the speed limit, obviously) and picked up Buglet (who decided she wanted to come after all), and Z (who Buglet had ended up babysitting) and made it to the real cinema to see it.

Spoiler alert: If you don't want to hear about the movie do not read the next paragraph
It was a great movie. They kept all the essential bits of the old version, and it felt "right". For the purists, the only thing I would complain about was that in this movie Splinter started off as a rat not a human. This bugged me for some reason. I loved how the fight scenes were realistic in that the turtles didn't always win against immeasurable odds. I note that someone who refers to fight scenes with Mutant Turtles as being realistic should not be taken too seriously. Would definitely recommend it to fans.

The girls loved it. Buglet (after being the one who didn't want to come) has ended up a massive fan.

At Guides last night we made these the best Christmas decorations.


My lovely co-leaders didn't tell me, because they thought that I would be the most excited person there. I was. Buglet may have been a close second though, and gave all sorts of instructions how the Pixie and were not to stuff our ones up. I was so excited that I needed to go and have a lie down to recover after making them (I am also suffering from Man Flu). So much happiness!! So very much happiness!!

Moral of the story for the children out there: When your mother tells you something from her childhood is awesome, believe her, she might just be right.

Moral for parents out there: Share those moments with your children. They might like them, or they may just humour you, and if nothing else you may have fun remembering.

Disclaimer:
  • I am not qualified to give craft advice.
  • I am not qualified to give advice on what is cool. Ask my friends. Ask my children.
  • It is doubtful I am qualified to give parenting advice, there is still time for me to stuff up.
  • I am not even allowed to give legal advice without supervision.
I would recommend finding more reliable sources for any advice of any nature.

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