Adelaide zoo

I miss the San Diego Zoo.

There. That's out of the way.

Adelaide does have a zoo, and it isn't bad. It's not the San Diego Zoo by any stretch of the imagination, but it's nice. I admit, when we walked in past the first three cramped, empty exhibits that were obviously built with much concrete in the 1970's I was a little worried I'd just wasted a bunch of money on zoo passes for the year. Not much further into the park I found most of the displays were much more modern, really almost garden-like. For as small as it is, this is a pretty zoo.

Even our pigeons are cool

Paul thought the American Alligators were "tops" (triceratops) and wanted to pet them very badly.

The best part: they have wallabies in their petting zoo.

The downside: my kids now want a pet wallaby (or  wawbie according to Paul).

"Sleeping"

This morning, while Sylvia was in the potty, I asked Paul if he'd also like to go sit on the toilet. He looked at me and said, "no, sleeping," laid back down, and started to snore. With a big smile on his face.

Already a character.

Disney parenting fail

Sylvia almost always picks out several movies when we go to the library, and usually I check out one for her to watch. For the most part the movie selection at the library is pretty good and appropriate for a 4 1/2 year old. There are some movies in the kid's collection that are more appropriate for older kids, but since Sylvia almost always picks up four or five movies it's not hard for me to steer her away from the ones I don't want her to watch.

Yesterday she picked up "The Lion King." She's picked it up several times before and every time I've remembered it's not really an appropriate movie for younger kids. Not this time, unfortunately. Blithely, I checked it out, took it home, and popped it in the computer for her to watch.

Then, I went about my own business. Sylvia's TV watching time (especially if coupled with Paul's nap time) is my work time. So, I let her watch. About 90 minutes later she came out of the bedroom sobbing, telling me the movie was too scary for little kids.

D'oh.

I knew the scene where Simba's dad dies is way too intense for a kid Sylvia's age. At the very least I should have watched it with her and skipped that part. Sigh.

Kicking myself for my inattention, I let her watch a second movie (How to Train your Dragon), assuming it would be less intense and would calm her down. I also watched it with her, at least most of the time. She was calm during that movie, but as soon as it was over she was every bit as worked up as she'd been immediately after the Lion King. She remained worked up during dinner, during the bedtime ritual, and when I sent her to bed. At about 6:00.

Finally, after maybe 10 or so minutes lying down in the dark she calmed down. She and Paul played happily for another hour or so and then we put them down, more successfully this time.

So, thanks Disney, for a kid's movie that really isn't appropriate for kids under the age of probably 10.

To end this on a brighter note, here is a link to the youtube video channel of another Sylvia: one who loves science as much as I hope my Sylvia does some day.