Friday, March 28, 2014

7 Reasons Why It Is OK to Love Frozen


The other day, my unmarried and childless brother-in-law asked me what is so great about the movie Frozen. Even he had heard aaaallll about it, and thought that they were making seem like it was the best Disney movie ever made in the history of ever. After getting over my annoyance that he interrupted one of my favorite songs that I was singing along with, (just kidding! Not really.) I decided that I needed to put some serious thought into it. Why IS this movie so great? I mean, it’s a typical Disney movie with princes and princesses and drama, right? Right??
Well, not really. I mean, yeah…I am the mom of two girls who are at the perfect age for target marketing audience for this movie.  We have almost every other Disney princess movie in our house. But there has to be something to THIS movie, a sparkle, as to why my girls have been playing Elsa and Anna for a solid two months. Why they sing the songs without even realizing they are singing, how they know ALL the moves to each and every song in the movie (even if that move is just lying on the ground with your feet propped up against a wall).  And how every throw blanket in my house has now become a cape, and the name Hans makes them physically angry. There has to be a reason when I hear the lyrics to “Let It Go” I literally cannot stop myself from singing along. And possibly throwing in a little arm gesture or spin at the end of the song.
So here is my list as to why Frozen is better than other Disney movies.
It is about the love between two sisters. THIS. IS. HUGE. Sure, there is a prince thrown in there and another cutie pie who is the honest goods. But really? It is about the journey one sister goes through to save her other sister. And is the one who winds up getting saved in the end. Not to ruin it for you, but there is no wedding at the end with a deep passionate kiss that makes everything OK. It’s a little grittier than that. But in a very beautiful way. This movie is one example I will forever use when my girls are hating each other.  It's OK to be pissed, but always have each other’s back.
There is an awesome conversation that starts with “Who gets engaged to someone they just met that day!?” A complete and total challenge to every other Disney movie made in the history of Disney movies. There is a great scene where Kristoff proves just how awesome he is by not only fighting off wolves while driving a sleigh through the forest, jumping a canyon and saving Princess Anna, but also questioning her repeatedly about her recent engagement. In a way that makes her decision seem completely irrational. Which it was. And I’m OK with my girls thinking that. PLUS, older sister Elsa puts the smack down on the engagement too. So it is two-against-one. Hans doesn’t count, he just doesn’t.
Frozen is funny. From Anna talking to statues and paintings to the little boy whose fault it isn’t that it is coronation day, to the Nordic guy who runs an outpost and spa, to all the other little jokes thrown in. You know that Disney writers have fun when writing movies like this. Parents appreciate it, makes it a bit more tolerable.
The songs are good. You’ll giggle at silly Olaf and just flat out belt out “Let It Go” with Elsa. You’ll find yourself humming “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” every time you hear three knocks. (Which is pretty often in my house since the girls are re-creating that scene on a daily basis.) Even Kristoff’s stupid 30 second “duet” is hard to ignore.
Not that this is good…but BOTH parents die. Disney finally got over its mommy issues in Tangled by letting the parents live, and the theme continues for a little while in this movie.  In the beginning, Anna and Elsa are happy little princesses with two doting parents. Who then DIE in a storm at sea. A lot of little kids probably don’t even put two-and-two together. Don’t worry, mine did and didn’t seem to care much. I guess letting Sam watch Bones wasn’t such a huge parental mistake after all.
It teaches little girls a hard lesson. That a guy can seem to be good and wonderful and the total package and youjustdontunderstandmomitmustbetruelove!!! And then they laugh in your face and leave you for dead. Literally. Not everyone is who they seem. Some people are a whole. lot. worse.
And the final lesson… Everyone is a fixer-upper. People make bad choices if they are mad or scared or stressed. No one is perfect. Throw a little love their way and you’ll bring out their best. (True) love conquers all.  
And THAT is why Frozen is the best Disney movie ever. Well…I suppose that is subjective. But in my house there are two little girls with that very strong opinion. Anna and Elsa are even better than Belle. And that is something I never thought would happen.

Monday, March 17, 2014

8 Awesome Things About Having Girls

Something has been bugging me lately.

I read a lot of "mommy blogs". Like, a lot. And usually they offer great tips and insights on raising kids, or tell great stories, and generally make you feel better about the job you are doing as a mom. You may not always agree with what the writers have to say, but they are allowed to say what they want to, and whether or not I agree is really irrelevant. Either way, I click off the blog and go on with my life. My life as a full-time working mom with two daughters. 

Recently, a lovely mother posted a video where she was singing about raising boys. And how great it was. And then other blogs popped up, 10 Great Things About Raising Boys9 Reasons I'm Glad I Have Boys, 8 Reasons I Love Having Sons. Just go to www.scarymommy.com and search "having boys". I began to get curious, where were the blogs about girls? If you seach "having girls", most of the same articles about having boys come up! Girls are great to raise, I mean, I should know, I have two of them and they are pretty fantastic. And since it is entirely possible I will soon be a mother to not one, not two, but three little girls, I thought that maybe I would be qualified to write a list as to why girls are great. You know why I would need to write such a blog? Because I found ONE blog about the good things girls add to parents' lives. Seriously? Really? All I could find were how-to articles about what you need to do to raise your girls. Things that you must instill in them and things you should not do or say in front of them. All in all, it makes raising girls sound horrific and terrifying and that anyone doing it deserves the utmost sympathy and possibly sainthood. ESPECIALLY if you have more than one. DEFINITELY if you have three or more. Poor, poor people who have girls.

While I am all for gaining sympathy and am certainly excited about sainthood, it's kind of depressing to see blog after blog proclaiming the wonderfulness of raising boys, which inadvertantly point out the difficulties in raising girls. Because, like I said before, girls. are. awesome. Boys are dirty, pee everywhere, and have ugly clothes. So there.

BUT, back to girls.They are great, and here is why.

The Clothes
Shopping for a little girl is so. much. fun. Pink dresses, little white carnigans, patent leather shoes, matching outfits for every day of the week. Red pants with a T-shirt with a strawberry on it, green pants with an adorable Irish saying on a long-sleeved blouse, purple striped pants that go with an assortment of sweaters. For two years I got to dress Sam up in the cutest outfits. I never really had to do her hair because it took so long to grow out. Pop a sparkly barette in and call it done! Dressing your daughter to look like the cutest thing ever to breathe on this planet is definitely one of the highlights of having a baby girl.

Self-Reliance
Sam was not quite two when Charlie was born. By the time I returned to work after maternity leave, she was pretty adept at dressing herself. She could pick out pants, shirts, socks or shoes. And get them on. Right side out. And not backwards. No matter that they did not match. She was dressed, one less thing for me to do. With two under two, I took all the help I could get.

Often they potty-train earlier/easier
When it came to potty-training, we did not push either girl, because quite frankly, we were sort of busy. And didn't feel like fighting with them. We showed them what to do, explained the process, and told them there would be prizes and candy and dancing once they did the deed. And one day, I heard the toilet flush and Sam came out of the bathroom pulling up her pants. With Charlie, we tried a litlte bit harder, cajoling her and bribing her and finally resigning to the fact that she would do it when she was damn well ready to. After a brief stand-off with her father a couple of weeks after her third birthday, she did it. And that was that. Potty training? Check.
The greatest thing about girls and pee?? IT STAYS IN THE TOILET.

They are handy to have around
The majority of the time, children are raised by a female. Whether it be mom or a daycare worker or a nanny, generally the nuturing child care provider role is filled by a woman. And little girls often like to emulate their caretaker. Whether this baby I'm carrying is a boy or a girl, I know that both Sam and Charlie will be clamoring to help. Sam has already told me that she can change pee diapers. Charlie is great about helping with the animals if I have my hands full. Even though I have two kids already, I am actually much less terrified about having my third than I was about having my second. They are older and can be my slaves, earn their room and board, I mean help around the house. They already do (laundry anyone?), and I know that having a small sibling will assist me in teaching the girls how to be productive, responsible adults.

Girls are just...FUN
Face it moms. You are a girl. You like to do girly things. Those things are fun to you. Watching Disney princess movies, doing hair, painting nails, shopping, playing dress-up, and dancing in the living room are fun for your girls. And while nail polish on the walls is sort of inevitable, shopping can be infuriating (NO, YOU CANNOT HAVE A NEW TOY OR THOSE SHOES. But OK, the headband is super cute, you can have that.) and doing hair will become the biggest battle of wills that ever existed,