ay-wee-ol

my little girl jane has gone through a few phases of obsession

with disney dvds.
it started with baby einstein.
it went to winnie the pooh,
it moved on to mary poppins,
and then mickey mouse,
and now, it’s the little mermaid.


with every little obsession,
janie picks up some new skills.
from baby einstein, she learned a lot of words,
sign language,
and she has become very familiar
with classical music.


she learned a lot from pooh-
how to dress like pooh,

how to start your own parade,
how to hop like a tigger,
and to love books.


she learned a lot from mary poppins too-
like-
how to stand on a turtle with one leg,

how to dance like a chimney sweep,

how to dance like a penguin,
how to ride a carousel horse,

and how to draw on the sidewalk,
like mary’s friend bert.


what she picked up from mickey mouse is pretty funny.
he has a new t.v. show,
and all of the music is done by a former ska band-
and the characters do a lot of ska dancing-
and so does jane.


but i’m a little concerned about little mermaid.
she often comes to me with the dvd in hand saying
“ay-wee-ol.” (ariel)
and when she watches it
(we skip the scary parts about sharks and ursula)
she dials in-
its like her heart becomes one with ariel.

i got sort of sentimental about it at first-
here ariel is a girl who can’t talk-
but in reality, she has a beautiful voice waiting to emerge-
and "janie is like that" i thought-
"a beautiful voice, just waiting to emerge."
and then i remembered how ariel gets her voice!

she has to kiss a boy!
WHAT?! oh HECK NO!
i turned into king triton.


i’m concerned that the things that janie will learn from the little mermaid are:
· how to dress immodestly,

· how to be boy-crazy!

(i’ve been a youth pastor for a long time! i know what this look means!

and its not good!)
(during this scene:

i heard her whisper:
ay-wick! (eric) what?! )
· or how to initiate kisses with boys!

· or how to wreck your relationship with your father over a BOY!


ack!


i have become king triton!
i’m the one telling ariel to stay away from eric!
and i am much more sympathetic to that character
now that i have a little girl of my own.

go triton!


i have become one of those
ultra-conservative parents!
and i’m not sure i like the underlying message
in the little mermaid!
boys are not worth it!
i’m one of them! i know!


maybe i can find a way to hide the movie!
or maybe get her into a new movie!
the jungle book?
that doesn’t have any kissing does it?