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MOOSE!

May 032010

On Friday evening, or rather, sometime in the dark night of Saturday morning, LittleBrother started screaming. Screaming. FireDad bolted out of bed to be met at our youngest son’s door by a sobbing, out-of-control, rocket pajama clad little man.

“THE MOOSE! MOOSE!”

At first I thought maybe he was talking about the moon. Maybe I hadn’t closed his blinds tightly enough and the full moon was shining in his window, “looking at him” as he complains that the sun so often does. I asked him if he meant the moon.

“NO! The MOOSE! Was COMING… *sob*… IN … *sob* … the HOUSE!”

We pulled him into our bed and he eventually calmed down. At one point, the moose was green. At another point, the offending, nightmarish moose was blue. Whatever his color, he was apparently horrific. He fell asleep and proceeded to kick, flip, flop and generally disrupt our sleep for the rest of the night.

On Saturday night, we tucked him into his bed. Around 10:30, the screaming began again. Once more we were met at his door by a frantic LittleBrother.

“THE MOOSE!”

We convinced him that the moose was gone, that he wasn’t in the house and that he was never coming back. Ever again. He looked at us with wary eyes but told us goodnight through leftover sobs. Thankfully he slept through the rest of the night. FireDad and I got a full night’s sleep.

I just can’t imagine what his two-and-a-half-year-old brain is conjuring up. The only two moose (mooses?) that he has experience with would be Moose A. Moose and the moose from the book Moostletoe. Neither of them seem all that menacing. I mean, sure, Moose A Moose is sporting some severely yellow skin which could be a sign that he’s fighting off some form of Hepatitis. It could be autoimmune but I wouldn’t share needles with him. And Moostletoe moose is absentminded enough to forget a Christmas tree which means he could be a raging alcoholic suffering from black outs. But, you know, they don’t look evil.

Or… do they.

Is that how LittleBrother sees Moose A Moose? I mean, I know that his songs can make me feel like sticking daggers in my ear drums but he still doesn’t look scary. He’s really quite nice if not slightly repetitive. (Are we there yet? ARE WE THERE YET?) Moose A Moose has taught us all about the seasons and recycling and being repetitive! (See?) Hardly nightmare material.

I just can’t figure out why LittleBrother has chosen to have nightmares about any moose at all. If anything, I think his nighttime panic would have something to do with his dad running into burning buildings. After watching Firehouse Dog, the two boys have been play-acting firefighter scenes with more frequency. They heard sirens in the distance the other day and had to run inside and find their helmets. Though maybe I’m not all that surprised that they don’t have nightmares about fire. I never seem to dream about people or situations that are currently going on in my life. Only high school, old boyfriends and random people chasing me through the woods. Maybe LittleBrother is conjuring up Evil Moose Visions because we’ve recently cut back even more on our TV time due to the gorgeous weather we’ve been having. Maybe he actually misses Moose A Moose. Unlikely but maybe.

Whatever the case, I sure hope he’s able to get some sleep soon. You know, because I like sleep, too. And a world free of Big Scary Moose…s.

It’s a No-TV Day in Our House

Parenting 24 Responses »

Jun 162009

Old TV We aren’t anti-TV. In fact, FireDad and I have shows that we really enjoy after the kids have gone off to bed for the night. During the day, the boys are allowed to watch non-commercial television stations (Noggin, PBS) or their movies (ranging from Thomas the Train to Toy Story). We don’t let them watch television all day long but they are allowed a certain amount of TV-time each day.

Except for today. And this past Sunday. And various other days which are decided the night before or the morning of.

No-TV days happen in our house. I don’t feel like a big ogre for employing them either. Well, I should say, I don’t feel bad anymore. When I initially noticed that television was having too much of a grasp on my children, I felt bad in just the realization. I thought I had limited their time enough. I thought I was doing the right thing! And then, when our first No-TV day happened, I felt bad because they were upset. Today? I don’t feel bad. It was necessary. It will be over by 7:00 this evening. And tomorrow my children will not hate me anymore.

At least for the No-TV thing.

Why did I start the No-TV thing on occasion? I can tell when they’ve simply had too much screen time. You can tell me that television doesn’t rot their brains. You can tell me that certain shows are educational and beneficial. You can giggle (with me) when one or the other quotes something cute from a movie. (Have you ever heard a three and a half year old use the word trousers? It’s adorable.) But when they won’t play outside because they want to watch something on television, they’ve hit that “too much” level. My children love to play outside. Outside is the best thing since sliced bread. I have, on occasion, had to bribe them with television, snacks and everything but money to get them to come inside. But yesterday, BigBrother whined at me that he wanted to go watch TV for the whole hour that we were outside. I detest whining. And whining about television seems to be a big indicator that something needs to change.

And, so, we are now enduring our second No-TV day in a three day time span. Sunday was a No-TV day as we were at my parents house and I wanted to make sure the boys were enjoying The Farm, their grandparents, the dog and the general outside-ness of it all. Today is a No-TV day because, as I said before, I won’t tolerate whining about television. This, of course, has made for a grumpy BigBrother. He’s quite miffed, really. And I almost feel bad. Almost.

But so far today, while I haven’t gotten much work done, mind you, he and LittleBrother have danced and sang to a few CDs in his room. They have changed imagination outfits a few times (fighting over a Thomas the Train belt for awhile that caused removal of said belt). They have read some books. And they are currently racing cars in their playroom. After I finish up some work, we have a day full of outside fun, coloring and t-ball planned. I may get wild and crazy and let BigBrother help me with supper. At the end of the day, neither child will say to me, “I wish we would have watched more TV today.” (Or, rather, BigBrother had better not say such a thing or I may have to go cry in the bathroom for awhile.)

No-TV days make more work for me, for FireDad. (I also learned, the hard way, that No-TV days on FireDad’s shift day are, shall we say, rather difficult. I learned my lesson.) As they are young children, a preschooler and a toddler, their attention spans only last so long. It’s true that they’re playing together right now but my guess is that we’ll have to play a game or do a puzzle in short order. Despite that this will make more work for me to attend to after they hit the sack tonight, I am okay with this fact. Work will get done. Just like television will still exist tomorrow.

I do, however, refuse to feel guilty that my children watch television. Or that they need breaks from television. Or anything of that nature. You can tell me that whining is an indication that we should throw out our televisions and quite possibly even our CD players and sit in silence for a years’ time. I’m going to smile at you, nod and then do my own thing. Just as I will smile and not at someone who tells me that No-TV days aren’t necessary. These two little boys are my children to parent. With their father’s help, we will make decisions together that are in their best interest. I don’t care what you do with your children. I don’t care if you are a No-TV-Ever family or an Always-On family. But I know what my kids need.

And today they need to dance and play and color and laugh and whine about something other than television. Tomorrow they can go back to thinking I’m mean for something else.

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