Thursday, July 15, 2010

A Kidseye View

It's one of those mornings where the sky's a bit overcast and the bugs--I think they're cicadas--make that sound that starts soft and then grows very loud, then tapers off and goes soft again. The air's all hot and heavy. It's like living in one of those jungle movies--Papillon or Bridge on the River Kwai.

Catherine and I went to see Airbender last night. It wasn't so bad, but it was a let-down for me. My primary response was that I don't know how anyone who hasn't seen the show as many times as we have (the girls watch it constantly) has any idea what's going on or why.

My almost eight year-old daughter loved it. She was bouncing in her seat, calling out the names when her favorite characters appeared, and then she talked about it the whole way home. She would give it an A+++. THAT made it a great movie for me.

It also made me remember how I responded to movies at her age. I wasn't so judgmental about how skillfully the acting was done or how true it was to the original story or how real the special effects looked. If I saw characters I liked doing cool stuff, I was happy.

We walked out of the theater and the moon was that little crescent with Venus at two o'clock. It was gorgeous. Even Catherine exclaimed when she saw it.

As we drove back to our house, the sky flashed white with heat lightening the whole way. Catherine sat in the back gazing out the window at the sky. Every now and then she'd say, "Look, Mommy!" or "Did you see that?"

I wished I could pull the car over and just sit out somewhere and watch it with her. I also mentally noted that as small as our little town is, there's not a lot of places to pull off the road and just stare up at the heat lightening.

We were driving on U.S. 31. JRM told me once that you can take that road all the way to Indianapolis where it becomes Meridian Street.

I remembered driving on Meridian many times in Indy with her in a car seat less than a year old. She liked the Dixie Chicks, and she'd cry when I had to stop at red lights.

Time's passing fast, but so much never changes. Last night I glanced in the rearview mirror occasionally at her little strawberry head and remembered when I used to sit in the window staring at the heat lightening.

I always thought it was pretty cool, too.


***

Earlier this week, Katie (a.k.a., Creepy Query Girl) gave several bloggers and me awards at her BLOscars. I had two responses. The first from the Monkees: "I'm proud, and a little bit humbled..." the second from Sally Field: "You like me! You really like me!"

Since I'm the guerilla comment lady, I took the supportive commenter award:




And a big THANK YOU! to Katie. It was both unexpected and encouraging and I appreciate you very much~

15 comments:

Ex-pat Odessa said...

I know what you mean about being a kid and liking a movie regardless of acting, special effects, etc. HELLO!! I thought "Xanadu" was the bomb! That and "Savannah Smiles" - I made dad rent those two movies EVER WEEKEND! It was insane! I think the ladies at Baker Video - remember the one by the old Kroger's, then the Albertson's, I think they eventually just gave dad the tapes for me, so that he could rent something for himself! LOL!

LTM said...

Xanadu--YES! It's the innocence. Just about all of my friends have said the same: "I was texting during Airbender, but the kids LOVED it" ... :D

Candyland said...

That almost made me tear up in the end. I look at my daughter and think the same thing...time goes so fast...
And congrats on the award! Katie rocks!

LTM said...

heck, I almost made myself tear up at the end there... :D thx, and yes. Katie rulz, as do you~ ;p

JRichard said...

Awesome that Catiebug liked TLA so much; yes, she's a kid with the kids-eye view. It's kind of like how I saw Return of the Jedi three days in a row in 1983, with not much clue that it's a real stinker.

It's true about US 31, and I remember the crying at red lights, particularly when Catherine was turned around backwards in the old 1998 Acura. Which is still my favorite car of all.

Natasha said...

So true. Kids are so much less discerning than we are, no wonder they get so much more out of life.
And this is the munchkin who's going to write the book set in India, isn't it?

Jenni said...

You can come to my house when there is heat lightening. We sat on the porch with the girls and watched it until Ally was scared...remind you of your youngest....!!! Oh and be thankful that Catherine cried at the red lights. AC cried unless we were going 80mph which is really hard in town! They are all so big and me bringing up the old pics probably helped put you in this state of mind- have you noticed the slightest cool breeze at night--- it is fall(or what we call fall here in LA)- which is another trip we passed around the sun...school starting, summer over- man now I am crying!!!!
Sooooo happy thoughts....YEA Leigh!!!!! Congrats!! Whhhhhooooo Hooooo!!!!I am proud of you!!!!

Hart Johnson said...

I've gotten critical about BOOKS too, as I get farther into writing, which in a lot of ways is sad. It is NICE when you can completely let go. SOMETIMES I can (did with Hunger Games) but it has to be far out of the realm of my genre.

Love that your daughter notices stuff... the moon and venus... the weather. My daughter is afraid of big weather (a drama queen to her core) but my son likes to watch with me (downpours was our latest biggie, though we get some pretty good lightning, too)

LTM said...

@Rayna: Yep, that's her! It's funny b/c I've been writing for the paper since she was 2 and I showed her my published articles to help her understand "what Mommy does at the computer"--no impact. Since I've started working on books, everything's changed. Now they all want to be writers! :D

LTM said...

@JRM: That was when we used to drive you to work & you'd run home. good times... ;p

@JenniD: funny goose! We *will* come over next time. I liked the nature show better than TLA! ;o) oh, and thank you, thankyouverymuch~

@Hart: She was initially concerned til I explained heat lightening to her. Then it was OK. Hey! I'm reading Hunger Games right now! Just started, but I'm likin it~

Cruella Collett said...

What a lovely post! I like these little reminders of how great life can be - when we share moments with loved ones or marvel at nature's wonders. Your description was beautiful, and it made my day a little brighter :)

LTM said...

@CC: Thanks, hon--it was one of those amazing, unexpected moments. And it was so good~ :o)

Unknown said...

Congrats on the award!!! I love Katie, she's fantastic!

You daughter sounds super cute, I love when kids truly loved something and can't share enough about it. The passion when they are young is so key and I hope it sticks around, too many children lose it when there parents start losing their imagination. Luckily mine is still fully intact!

It was nice checking out your blog... very cute!!!

LTM said...

Hi, Jen! Thanks--and what you say is v. true!

Thanks for visiting/commenting. Come again~ :o)

Matthew MacNish said...

I can see why my flash fiction reminded you of this post ... what a touching little tale.

I liked the airbender film, but not as much as the show. The show is awesome! We own all the DVDs. My daughter (14 YO) hated it though, she kept hissing through her teeth every time they said Sokka's name wrong. Or Iroh.