Like father like daughter

by Carlos

There used to be a commercial that showed how they made Superman look like he was flying on TV. I don't know why, I guess some kids were jumping off of buildings or something, but I couldn't accept that a flying Superman was some kind of TV trick. I was 3 yrs old and I would turn the volume down on the TV, stick my fingers in my ears and sing 'la la la' until it was over (back then we only had a few channels to watch so I couldn't just change it).

TV is an influence and somehow I love it. I love movies that just draw me into another world and there, I live for a while. I get a little sad when the movie is over I have to return to reality.

For me, I don't mind the way that I am with movies. I have to respect for their power over me, though. I can't stay in TV land for too long anymore.

But when I see it in my kids, it disturbs me a little. I don't let them watch a lot because I know how addictive it is to me. We don't own cable so the kids just watch videos and I know exactly what they're watching (we don't have the bunny ears either, as if they worked as well when we were kids).

The other day, I was watching them watch the classic Fantasia (great film!). In Dance of the Hours, some ostriches are playing with fruit. As the ostriches came out, Damai claimed that she was the lead ostrich. The other girls picked out their ostrich. At one point, the lead ostrich wouldn't share her grapes, while the other ostriches are tying to pick the grapes out of her mouth. Remember, Damai has claimed that she was the lead ostrich, so Anna leans over and asks Damai, "can we have some grapes?" Damai replied in an authoratative tone, "No, they're mine." And they went back to watching the ostriches.

How precious! My girls are just like me.