Enjoyance

Lilo & Stitch was playing without sound in the waiting room at physical therapy. It is rare that I am unable to piece together the plot of a children's movie even in the absence of dialogue but this one has utterly defeated me. What. The. Hell. Is. That. Blue. Thing?

Which reminds me... Patrick was slow (very slow. glacial, really) in his approach to movies and the fact that all non-animated movies either bored him or freaked him out was kind of annoying. It limited our family viewing to the Science channel (talk about boring... I loathe all eras. also periods, epochs and ages - even the Holocene which makes me an ingrate) or the few movies (Aladdin, Cars, Shrek, Lion King 1 1/2) that he liked.

But now that he's blooming into a tween he's enjoying more things (like all of the Harry Potter movies but only after he read the books) and I realized that I am thirty years out of date in this genre. Case in point: the first movie I thought to get for him was Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang. He was not amused. So I tried Ferris Bueller's Day Off and he was a little too amused (I didn't remember it being quite so broad in its humor) Steve was convinced Patrick would love Raiders of the Lost Ark but it was just OK for him after the opening scene (Nazi archeology apparently does not translate well for Patrick - Steve and I still liked it) and now we're back to my suggesting early 70s classics like Swiss Family Robinson while trying to explain how long ago the only time a kid could watch a movie was on Sunday nights and more often than not they sucked.

Surely there have been decent movies have been made in the past thirty years or so that are neither babyish nor too grownup? 

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Caroline and Edward are very cute.

 

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Patrick has four more Interactive Metronome sessions in OT to complete and it's been quite helpful already. I'm still not entirely clear on how it works or why but I think the idea is that these repetitive motions teach the neurons in the brain to fire differently and I've noticed that Patrick is less... impulsive? Messy? Out of sync? Something. Something better. 

Lego photography must be an art form at which I do not excel but here are a couple shots of the blue-ribbon house. The details don't show up very well but there were a lot of them and Patrick had designed the levels with only a few points of attachment with smooth bricks in between so you can lift up and see into the floors below. 

That's the living room with a couch and a television and a table lamp and a remote control. I asked him what the red thing was by the window and he said it was chockalock and I thought about it and finally said you mean tchotchke? And he gave the gracious nod he has perfected and said, "If you prefer."

[Yesterday he complained, "Caroline was in my room again... much to my annoyment."]  

 

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Edward expressed interest in moving from his crib into a big boy bed so Steve

This just became a parenthetical aside so long it gets its own paragraph:

Steve has developed a passion for Craigslist in the process of rehabbing the farmhouse - he bought an acre of some guy's old barn floors for like $6 and it escalated from there: on the plus side he used it to sell the hot tub so for the first time since we've lived here we are able to use the screened porch without being up to our necks in water; on the minus side... actually, there is no minus side. It's a good thing. We got rid of the hot tub and bought someone's fairly-ugly-but-functional patio set and now we can eat on the porch - although so far Steve and I have just used it to drink and play cards. The distance between the chairs and the table means that three-quarters of what we serve the children will get lost en route so I am waiting for a night that I serve something in big enough pieces that I won't mind prying them out of the chair grooves. And then two days ago we sold one of the double strollers to a nice couple who is building their family through international adoption and I like the fact that another brother-sister pair will get use out of it.

Anyway I told Steve that Edward wanted a *big boy bed* (you have to say it like Edward does all squeaky-husky) and Steve promptly looked on Craigslist. Then he laughed and showed me what he pulled up and I laughed and said "Kurt Van Houten" and then we were both misty for a moment while we remembered the Simpsons episode where Kurt leaves his wife and is extolling the virtues of single living and says, "I sleep in a race car bed, Homer. Do you sleep in a race car bed?"    

So we said ha ha ha ha ha h... huh as it simultaneously occurred to both of us that Edward really would like to sleep in a race car bed.

So we bought it for twenty-five bucks and if we were a little disconcerted to discover that the bed fits no known mattress size (38" by 63"? what the hell?) Edward's developed an instant passion for it: "Ma boo rathe cah bed goeth ZOOOOM!" Since we could hardly get rid of it we had to find a mattress solution and settled on using the single futon that flops neatly over the edge and creates what I am calling a 'safety berm' to keep the fact that the mattress doesn't fit from driving me crazy.

(Edward's newest habit is to tell us the color of everything. I am hoping this rubs off on Caroline who can only accurately identify the color pink. The rest of the time she will look you dead in the eye and say with ringing confidence, "That dog? It's BLUE.")

PS Thank you so much for all the eczema help. I can tell you exactly what happened with Edward - we always use a scent-free dye-free laundry soap at home but when we went to Colorado I didn't think about it and used what our friends had on hand. Edward's skin took one whiff of Waterfall Fresh Lilac Blossom Springtime and started trying to eat itself - I didn't notice right away and by the time I did he had well and truly flared. He's doing much better - well he now has a screaming cold but apart from that - and I used most of your advice: Bacitracin on the bloody bits and moisture on the rest. 

Comments

[Twangypearl]

The Triplets of Bellevue, and the Iron Giant - best animated films, but not so well known. I cannot say how much I LURVE them. Words fail me! Also The Secret of Kells. Beautiful and original.

Have you all seen the Wallace and Gromit series? They might be on Patrick's wave-length. So funny.

[Floyd]

I'll second the recommendation for the movie Mathilda. Princess Bride is also a good one.

Oooooo.....and whoever said Space Camp - loved that one back in the day!

[Amy]

I adore when I find a new post from you. Especially when it includes pictures of all your children. Patrick's Lego House is fantastic.

As for movies, so many good ones have been suggests (Pixar, Pirates of the Caribbean, Princess Bride, and Star Wars being particular favorites). For something animated, but non-Disney, Shrek or Madagascar might have appeal. We also love Phineas and Ferb, but that might be too young for Patrick.

[Jan]

Second Julie on the Japanese animation, but for the twinks later -- I'm not sure Patrick would like, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and maybe Wallace and Grommit (you have to be a bit younger than Patrick or a lot older to appreciate the humor). The most recent one about the Wererabbit and the vegetables is dumbed down -- it was made by a big studio and is full of sniggery double-entrendres about sexual body parts to amuse the adults, I guess.

Also got the Goonies for kids but had to turn off because I hadn't remembered the profanity. Too bad, because otherwise terrific.

Maybe "The Horse Without A Head," based on the French detective novel, one of the better movies made by Disney, in England. 1960 maybe? Extremely well acted. It was never released in theaters here, only shown on TV. Bunch of poor French kids after the war ride an old wheeled hobby horse on the town's back streets and get mixed up with bank robbers. Spoiler: Wonderful fight with the robbers at the end in a fireworks and party favor storeroom.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?

[Bekki]

Zathura is kid friendly sci-fi at its finest. Plus I heart Jon Favreau, so pretty much anything he makes gets a check mark around here.

[Helen]

Ikea sells some sort of strange sized toddler mattress, to go along with some of their strange sized toddler beds. Spirited Away as a movie? I don't remember what it's about in terms of plot, but I do recall thinking it was a very good film.

[Beth]

Peter Pan (the live action one made in 2003)
The Water Horse
Arthur and the Invisibles
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Secondhand Lions
The Golden Compass

These are non-cartoon favorites of ours that grownups like too...our very Patrick-ish boy loves them.

The Princess Bride...you must all watch it and commence quoting it immediately, out of principle.

[Beth]

Patrick would also probably love Robots (it's animated but really good).

[iheartnewyork]

Return to Witch Mountain (the original) is also really good. The Back to the Future trilogy is a favorite here, as well as Men in Black (the first one especially). Young Frankenstein -- classic. Oh! Mouse Hunt -- my kids die laughing.

[iheartnewyork]

Also, wholeheartedly agree with Zathura (one of my favorites), My Neighbor Totoro, and Wallace and Gromit (all of them).

[Pam L]

"If you prefer" hahahah!

SO, movies, yeah, I forget a lot of them since my youngest in now 17, but we watched Sandlot a billion times and I would watch it again.I also like Field of Dreams and I am not a baseball nut. For Raiders, I think the first two (?) was there more? were better than the last one. It was better when Harrison could actually run, but I do like seeing Shia grow up. As far as forgetting the inappropriate parts of movies and then showing them to your kids, we are the parents that forgot how bad the language/content on The Sopranos was over the summer and when the new second season started let our boys watch it. They were not two, and we do not worry too much about language, but even we had to turn that one off, much to our boys dismay. How did we forget about the Bada Bing pole dancers?

[vhmprincess]

Back to the Future!!!

[beyond]

Has anyone mentioned E.T. yet? and The Wizard of Oz!

[Kristin]

Definitely try Princess Bride.

Also, referring back to the previous post, I would avoid sewing machines made specifically for kids. Most of them are crap. Here are a few machines that fall in the inexpensive category and might work for Patrick...

Brother LS2125I

Magic-Stitch Cordless Sewing Machine

Janome 11703 Sew Mini

Michley LSS-202 Lil' Sew

[denise]

My 7-year-old loves the Studio Ghibli movies--My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, and others whose names I can't remember.

He also likes old musicals: Willy Wonka, Bye Bye Birdie, Music Man.

He loved Sandlot, which a few people mentioned. When we were at the Tyler Place last week, he was bobbing up and down in the pool, but staying under the water--the lifeguard and I both thought he was drowning, and she jumped in to save him. He was just fooling around, so when my blood pressure returned to normal we teased him that he was trying to kiss "Wendy Pfeffercorn."

[Laurie A]

War Games
The Iron Giant (it's animated, but really cool - Harry Connick, Jr and Jennifer Aniston do the voices)
The old Scooby Doo Mysteries are not movies, but you can get DVDs of the whole season strung together. They're a big hit in our house although my guy is a couple of years younger than Patrick.
Check out the "All About..." series. All about Cars, Helicopters, Military, Creepy Crawlies, Boats, Monster Trucks, etc. Catchy intro tune mixed with instructional info about the title subject.

[hls]

If Ikea doesn't come through on the toddler-size mattress (as an aside, where have we come to that we must invent a special-size mattress for years 1+ to 3?!), you can cut down one of their larger (cheap!)foam mattresses to custom sizes very easily. Unzip the cover, pop it out, cut with any longish knife (perhaps not your most expensive, easily ruined blade) and a plank or similar as a straight-edge. The slip cover will then be a bit loose but you could get fancy and resew the seam to make it fit tightly. So excited to have a suggestion for once! Also, that lego house is incredible. I have no idea how Patrick conceptualizes that. His genius is only equalled by the twins' incredible adorability.

[Declan Mulqueen]

I read through the comments and didn't see Stand By Me...but we LoVe that movie!

[Victoria]

People have already suggested Labyrinth, but what about the two movies it often comes bundled with? The Dark Crystal is a little slow, but if he can stand it the world is mesmerizing. Mirrormask is another exercise in world building, this time with artist Dave McKean doing the visuals and Neil Gaiman doing the writing. All are from Jim Henson company. And, while you're at it, why not find, well, pretty much everything Henson-related? The Storyteller is a series centered around myths and folk tales, and I'm pretty sure you know The Muppet Show and Muppets Tonight. Since he has a quirky sense of humor, he may just fall in love with anything and everything Henson. And if that's the case, be prepared to make or buy him puppets. Lots of puppets.

[Chris in NY]

Real Science
Goonies
Home Alone
Star Wars

[Catherine]

National Treasure
Night at the Museum

[Kara]

One that I haven't seen mentioned: Hocus Pocus

My family enjoys it every Halloween.

[Bianca]

Pixar, Pixar, Pixar.

[Erika]

I feel for you, Julia--my daughter only likes movies about kids or animals, although at least she doesn't limit herself to animation. So Raiders--big no. Also, she doesn't like scary.
A big recommendation for the Miyazake movies like Spirited Away, etc.
Also, when I'm looking for movies, I look at http://www.commonsensemedia.org/.
They recommend movies according to age groups, plus they review them based on a # of factors such as violence/scariness, language, consumerism, etc. So if you have a kid who's easily scared, or if you have concerns about sex or drinking in movies, you can be prepared.

Also, apparently TypePad hates Google Chrome. Or maybe it's just me.

[Mitzi]

As for as the eczema goes, my friend makes a wonderful goats milk soap that made the eczema on my kids disappear. All natural. I can send you some if you would like to try it.

As far as movies...what about?
Homeward Bound
definitely Princess Bride and
Secondhand Lions.

[Sally]

You've gotten a lot of terrific suggestions but I'd like to add: The Secret of Roan Inish (Seal Island) It's a little slow but very sweet and beautiful to look at. The little girl who plays the 10 year old lead, Fiona, is so adorable I just want to put her in my pocket and carry her around so I can listen to her Irish (Celtic?) accent.

[Amanda]

When I was Patrick's age, I loved musicals-- Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz; and the more obscure Disney classics like Bedknobs and Broomsticks and the Three Lives of Thomasina. Then there's the classic classics like Parent Trap and Pollyanna... but that doesn't help you on the quest for modernity.

What are Patrick's thoughts on Muppets? I'm a freakishly HUGE Muppet fan-- the Great Muppet Caper is a great place to start! Or maybe Muppets Take Manhattan.

I'll second the votes for Star Wars and Princess Bride!

Some others I haven't seen mentioned:
-The Sandlot
-Little Rascals
-Hook
-Peter Pan (live action with Cathy Rigby!)
-Free Willy (which I HATED as a teen but my kid sisters couldn't get enough of)
-Stuart Little
-anything Wallace & Gromit
-Newsies!

If you haven't seen it before, I bet ALL of you will love Milo and Otis. My two year-old loves it, and it still holds my interest after all these years. A good quiet movie for bedtime.

Hope that helps a bit!

[lb]

We just watched The Spy Next Door and, even though it was totally formulaic and terrible, my kids LOVED it. My 7yo wants to have all his friends watch it at his birthday party. Possibly this is because they haven't actually seen a lot of movies, much less action movies, but also I think there is kind of a magic about a bad Jackie Chan movie that transcends it's badness, if you know what I mean.

[Pam]

The twins are too cute! Our car bed used the crib mattress. My son's favorite movie was The Sandlot. You'll love it too. It's quite cute.

[Laura C.]

Lila liked all the Pokemon movies... also:
Stardust (based on the Neil Gaiman book)
The Last Mimzy
The Golden Compass
Snow Dogs
Hoot
Richie Rich
The Hobbit (from the 70s -- esp. after reading the book)
Lord of the Rings movies, maybe?
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Black Beauty
The Air Bud movies
Touching Wild Horses

[Lindsay]

Labyrinth! Labyrinth!!

[Nikki]

Another music video option - available on You Tube - is OK Go's "This Too Shall Pass" Rube Goldberg version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w

[elsimom]

I think all our family favorites have been covered EXCEPT Over the Hedge and Madagascar.
We watch Over the Hedge as a family, repeatedly, and we still love it.
Just to add weight to the recommendations:
Nanny McPhee
Toy Story (we like 2&3 best)
Wallace & Grommit
Princess Bride (my personal favorite - my husband does not love it as I do).
Annie (more for Caroline than Patrick)
Incredibles
Monsters Inc.
Racing Stripes
Any Scooby Doo, animated or not (I kinda like the music in the newer ones!)

[Alice]

A big YES to "Night at the Museum" and "Home Alone." Also the "Shrek" series and anything by Pixarm notably "The Incredibles," the "Toy Story" series, "Monsters Inc.," "A Bug's Life" and "Ratatouille." Kid movies are so much better than when we were kids, because even the animated ones (or especially those) work well for adults too. At least this adult.

[Issa]

I'd put money on Caroline knowing all of her colors. Just choosing not to share that with you. :)

[Bella]

Star Wars (original trilogy)
Sky High (So super fun)

[MaryB]

Miyazaki movies (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, etc)

anything by Pixar

Princess Bride

A Little Princess (wonderful movie - don't see why boys wouldn't find something to like here beyond the awful title - made by Alfonzo Cuaron)

La Belle et La Bete - Jean Cocteau. My daughter is captivated by this and it may be the most beautiful movie ever made...

Singin' in the Rain - find me someone who won't giggle all the way through "Make 'em Laugh!"

The Black Stallion

Labyrinth and the Dark Crystal

Chicken Run and all Wallace and Grommit films

Mr. Bean

[Mmm]

The Cat From Outer Space has succeeded in amusing my 3 and 1 year old, and also keeping the interest of my scientifically-minded 8 year old. It's from the 70s or early 80s, i think.

[Cris]

I've only read the first section, but ... another question for your readers? About movie titles? All I can say is "Thank goodness!" Because we are about to institute a family movie night and I was wondering just the same thing and now you've asked the very question (AGAIN!) that I need answers to. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with - your readers always have intelligent and hilarious answers.

Thank you all!

[Kate (Bee In The Bonnet)]

I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but Patrick strikes me as the kind of kid who would like the Night At The Museum movies.

And seeing "craigslist" and "stroller" both mentioned here in your post reminded me that I wanted to ask if you are still using your Kolcraft Contours Options tandem stroller. I registered for that stroller without really researching too heartily, and while I love that I can plop the infant seats onto the adapter thingys with my now-two-month-old twins, I wonder whether we will use it with the actual seat attachments once they are older. I was sold on the idea that the seats could be positioned in any configuration, but neglected to realize how incredibly heavy and bulky the stroller is-- six feet long, indeed. It takes up the better part of our trunk when folded, and I seriously wonder whether I'll be able to lift it out by myself with the actual seats attached.

Anyhow, I was just wondering whether you still found it useful past the point at which you would use it with car seats, or whether it might behoove me to start saving my pennies to find another type of double stroller on craigslist (see how neatly I finally made it back to that initial thought-provoking word?).

The finks are, of course, adorable as always.

[Laura]

What about Ikea toddler mattresses? I can't find bedding for it besides at Ikea, but ours is about that size.

[m]

I just wanted to say that I like the way edwards bed looks far better with an overly large mattress. It looks really comfy.

[Jan]

And is the child actress on the right Caroline in a couple of years or WHAT?

http://www.amazon.com/The-Horse-Without-a-Head/dp/B000R4NOSY

[Crystal]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioceptors

Ikea for the mattress? If the annoyance becomes too great.

We're moving to Northern Michigan to get some acreage. Better there than here. When you have horses your mantra becomes "as much acreage as possible".

Guess I can wave at you from across the lake (and a considerable land mass). Imagine if you were Russian.... :)

[Kel]

Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl. Best kid movie ever. Which leads to all Robert Rodriguez' other kid films which are the Spy Kid's movies.

ASBALG (look at me) is so good, that when it comes on TV and my kids are watching it, I find myself stopping whatever and hanging with them and every time we've seen it (probably three or four now), we find something else that becomes a good topic of conversation.

[Lisame]

The nine year old that spends his weekends with me is ALOT like Patrick! These have been the surprise winners for the last few years:

Hoot
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453494/

Lave girl and Shark boy

Night at the Museum

anything with Errel Flynn (sp?)

and Star Wars (not a surprise) over and over and over and over

[JennG]

I just skimmed but I didn't see Matilda and that's my first recommendation - go precocious kids.

Babe
The Jungle Book
Sword in the Stone
Time Bandits
Labyrinth has the advantage of David Bowie in tights (ahem)
The Dark Crystal
How to Train your Dragon
The Star Treks
The Supermans

Is Jurassic Park too scary?

[Bobbie]

Indian in the Cupboard?

[Teri]

Secondhand Lions -- yes, I had forgotten
War Games
Taps (or should Patrick be a little older -- I don't know)

[Justin]

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, it's old but one of the funniest movies ever.