Pyramids

Last week, on a rainy day, I took the girls to the library to play. On our way out, I allowed them to choose one DVD each to rent and take home. Madeleine, unsurprisingly, chose Dora. Julia decided to turn down all of the Disney movies I showed her, and instead chose a 30 minute Sesame Street montage called "Elmo Says Boo." When we got home, she immediately wanted to watch it, and little did I know a video geared towards toddlers about Elmo would provoke so much fright in my nearly-five-year-old. "MOM!" I heard her scream at one point during the video, so I ran in, and as soon as I saw the sketch on the tv, I was transported to my childhood and the sheer terror I felt at this particular sketch. Does anyone else remember this? Were any of you as freaked out by the dancing statue as I was?:




Ethan had no recollection of this particular scene, so last night we sat down as a family to watch it together. Thankfully, Julia has gotten over her fear and now finds amusement in the dancing Ernie statue, and Madeleine was completely unphased by any spooky elements of the skit. "Look! It's Burp!" she exclaimed, pointing at the Bert statue. "She's DANCING!" she announced as the Ernie statue tap-danced to "Rubber Duckie." Apparently she is Ethan's child, since he was quick to proclaim that he found it unfathomable that such a scene could inspire fear even in a child.

As I put Julia to bed last night, her mind was still on the pyramid scene:

JULIA: But Mom, do you think Ernie and Bert were really in the pyramid?
ME: No, I think they were pretending they were exploring a pyramid, and it was all in their imagination.
JULIA: But why do you think they were just pretending?
ME: Well, the pyramids are very, very far away, and it's not easy to get there. And they're not the kinds of things you can just walk into and start exploring.
JULIA: But why can't you just walk in?
ME: Well, they're very popular. Lots of people want to visit. It's called a "tourist destination." So you don't just get to walk in all by yourself and explore. It's like when we go to the aquarium, we can't just walk in and look at the fish all by ourselves. We have to stay in line and pay to get a ticket to go in.
JULIA: Well, what other places do you have to buy a ticket?
ME: Most places that we go. There are some places that are free, like the library, or the playground, or the park.
JULIA: But why do you have to pay money at most places?
ME: Well, because they're businesses and THEY need to make money. That's why Mommy and Daddy both need to have jobs, so we can make money to pay for the things we do. What kind of job do you think YOU might want to do when you're grown-up?
JULIA: Well, I'm not sure yet.
ME: That's okay! You have lots of time before you have to decide.
JULIA: Maybe I'll be a musician.
ME: You'd be a GREAT musician.
JULIA: Are you and Daddy musicians for your job?
ME: Well, Daddy has his church choir job and he's a musician for that. But he's mostly an engineer. I'm a musician for my job. That's why in college I studied music. So I could learn everything I could about music so I'd be ready to get a job doing music.
JULIA: (thoughtful) Well, Mom? Are there any colleges you can walk to from Needham?
ME: Sure. Why, are you thinking you want to still live here when you go to college?
JULIA: No, I'm just thinking that I don't want to break any laws about driving to get to college.

Apparently she thinks she'll be going to college in the next 2.5 months before my driving restrictions are lifted. I mean, she's really bright, but I think college at age 5 is a bit of a long shot...