Grab Your Backpack - Let's Shop!

It was recently announced that Dora the Explorer will be getting a makeover this fall. Now, instead of a wholesome little girl who loves going on adventures and solving problems, Dora will be heading to the mall. Hooray! Just the kind of role model I want my daughters to have! You can read the full press release here.

Apparently the Nickelodeon and Mattel have found out (from who?) that the Kindergarten set are too cool for Dora, tossing her aside for dolls like Bratz. So they have decided to do the creepiest thing possible and make Dora look like a slut. They have released a sillhouette of what the "new" Dora will look like:

Yup. I'm a little scared too. Why is she standing like that? Is she wearing a mini skirt? Dora doesn't wear skirts-she wears shorts! And how can she expect to go on adventures wearing ballet flats? Where are her sneakers?

Now I have done my share of bitching about Dora. In fact, my girls can only watch it if I am not in the room because I really just cannot handle it. But it's not a show for me. It's for preschoolers. And they love it. My 3 year old has a larger Spanish vocabulary than I have, and I studied that language for 4 years in high school. When we're coloring, she asks me to pass her "amarillo" when she wants the yellow crayon. Will we be learning the Spanish word for "totally" when the new Dora is revealed?

Kids outgrow things. It happens. I think the better way to approach this may have been to create a family member (a la Diego) for the older crowd. Maybe an older bobble-headed cousin if that's the demographic they want to reach out to. To make your cartoon characters age is stange and creepy. Especially since so many girls (and their parents!) are comfortable with Dora the way she is. Besides, Nickelodeon has Spongebob and we all know about his cross-generational appeal. There are men in their late twenties living in their parent's basements that can't get enough of that guy.

New Dora will not be banned in my house. I don't think it will be necessary. My girls relate to Dora the Explorer, not Dora the Mallrat. If anything, I think Diego will start to have more appeal. That is, at least until his voice deepens and he starts to sprout facial hair.

So Maybe We Need a 3 Bedroom House

We live in a two bedroom place with two girls. It's temporary, but it works for now. The baby just recently moved from our bedroom to her sister's room because she was ready for the "big girl crib". By "ready" I mean she was sleeping through the night for the most part and there was a slim chance that she would wake up Big Sister.

Everything had been going swimmingly until Little Sister got sick a couple weeks ago. She had a nasty chest cold and a double ear infection so she was up periodically throughout the night hacking, crying, screaming and just plain pissed off that she was sick. Big Sister only woke up once during the two week stretch to complain about the baby keeping her up, so I thought we were doing pretty good.

Last night, Little Sister slept through the night, which meant that their father and I also slept through the night because we didn't have to sleep with a hacking, crying, screaming pissed off baby. In fact, I slept so soundly that I didn't even hear Big Sister come in our room and crawl into bed with us. When I got out of bed, I notcied she was in there and there was something on her head. When I leaned in closer, I started laughing. Hysterically.

She was wearing her earmuffs! Not the kind that keep you warm - the kind that protect your ears from loud noises.* Yes, she went to bed anticipating that fact that her sister would probably be keeping her up again and she was going to use the proper ear protection. It's just too bad she can't appreciate the irony in that fact that the first night she decided to use the headgear was the first night here sister decided to sleep all night.

*We have earmuffs for the girls because their dad is an avid race fan and we frequent the local track. Not because we're weirdos.

Top Ten Reasons Why I Wish I Was 3 Again

1. I could nap in the middle of the day, or pretty much whenever I wanted to

2. If I didn't comb my hair, nobody would judge me for it.

3. If I wanted to wear camouflage pants to my birthday party, that would be cool

4. Play Doh

5. No one would ever look at my artwork and tell me to make changes

"These are 2 guys. The pink one is sad and has two suns
on his arms. The blue one is happy and bigger." ~Natali, Age 3

7. My Little Pony underwear

8. If I was cranky, everyone would just know that I was tired

9. If I wanted to stop a Top Ten list at number 9, I could

When Did I Become Such a Pussy?

Let me just start out by saying that I have always been a huge fan of scary movies. Not so much blood and guts (not that blood and guts ever bothered me) - but suspense. You know, the "When is that guy going to jump out of the bushes and kill those unrealistically beautiful and adult-looking high school kids?" kind of suspense. Some of my fondest memories include watching every scary movie available with my friends when I was younger.

And then something very weird happened...

I got my Netflix in the mail about a month ago and was so excited, because the only DVD's our player has ever seen include Dora, Diego and Tom & Jerry. So when "The Strangers" showed up in my mailbox, I couldn't wait to get the kids to bed and watch it. I got through the first 5 minutes and was totally terrified and had to stop the movie. I know - what the hell? Nothing even happens it the first 5 minutes! I don't even think there was any talking yet! So, no big deal - I'll just send it back and get my next movie. Because obviously a brief flashback scene and two people moping around a house is just too damn scary for me.

So when "Zodiac" came, I put that sucker in and made it about 3 minutes. I got to the part where the couple is parked and a car pulls up in the background. Nope - can't handle it - Eject. Seriously? Seriously. What in the name of Alfred Hitchcock is the matter with me? Is it because these two movies are "based on actual events"? Did giving birth negate my " I love scary shit" gene? Whetever it is, I need to fix it. It's embarassing.

So, Netflix - I will be anxiously awaiting the next movie in my queue, Peter Pan.