When your toddler is afraid of Santa Claus

Sofie is terrified of Santa. Getting her near him was torture. This is a surprise because she talks about him all the time now that Christmas is approaching. Last year was fine, this year, not so much. Any tips on how to desensitize your child to the horrors of that white beard? Please leave them in the comments!

Podcasts for Toddlers

As I mentioned before, there are a few free video podcasts out there that are great for toddlers.  I like to have a few in my iPhone to use as a distraction in the event of a meltdown.  Here are my reviews for two of them.

Sesame Street:  Sesame Street has a weekly podcast featuring the "Word on the Street".  The podcast begins with the usual Sesame Street intro with Murray interviewing people in New York asking for a definition for the word of the day.  Usually there will be an animation or two to accompany it.  Followed by a celebrity giving an example of the word of the day.   Lately there has been a special segment featuring Abby Cadabby at the end.  This is a stellar podcast in that it is a 6 to 8 minute episode of Sesame Street you can take with you.

They Might Be Giants:  I feel really lucky to have found this one.  The alternative rock band, They Might Be Giants, has released a few albums directed at children ("Here Come the ABCs", "Here Come the 123s", and "No!").  If you have not heard them, they are fantastic, and very educational.  The podcast is a puppet show put on by the two bandleaders, John Flansburgh and John Linnell, interspersed with animated music videos of songs off these albums.  They are humorous for both adults and children.  There hasn't been a new one in several months, but I expect them to return with the release of their next kids CD, "Here Comes Science".

You may have to use iTunes or a similar program to subscribe to these podcasts.  Either of the links above have great directions on how to proceed.  It is possible to download old episodes.  Personally, I downloaded them all and have them all loaded into my iPhone, just in case we get stuck in an elevator or something.

Tinkerbell, Old and New

Sofie and I have watched the original Peter Pan together a few times now.  One thing that always strikes me is Tinkerbell's lack of morality.  In the movie she tries to get Wendy killed, and reveals the location of Peter Pan's hideout in another attempt to get Wendy out of the picture.  Her murderous jealousy is a stark contrast to her cute demeanor.  She comes around in the end, but who knew fairies were sociopaths?

Disney has found it in their wisdom to release an entire movie based on the origin of Tinkerbell.  It went straight to video, which is always a bad sign, but the trailers looked well made.  Disney also showed it on the Disney Channel in HD over the weekend.  I saw it as a great opportunity to screen it with Sofie before we go buy it.  So Monday morning we fired up the DVR and began viewing the movie.

We made it to the first commercial break (about 20 minutes) before Sofie lost interest.  She is usually able to watch long movies without getting bored, but this one did not hold her attention.  The CG in the movie is excellent.  The writing is okay.  The voice acting is good.  But Tinkerbell herself is so different, she may as well use a different name. 

So where we once had an image of a jealous little mute pixie, there is now a very talkative young fairy, that likes to interrupt, has a strong talent for inventing fairy tools, and is capable of tailoring her own clothes out of leaves.   I am not sure if the sociopathic side of her comes out at any point later in the movie.  It's still in the DVR, so if we ever find out, I'll let you know.

UPDATE:

Took a couple more sittings, but we got through the whole thing.  It's not terrible.  I think it would be great for little girls aged 4-10.  The message I took away from it is "Be yourself, but don't try to go beyond your capabilities.  Know your limits, and don't rock the boat."  Maybe that's not the best message for little girls to hear.