My Little Prince

A little over a year ago Baba was with us in Lebanon for Christmas. He was also trying to prepare papers and exams for the online classes he's taking. In an effort to help him have some quiet study time while the kids were out of school for the holidays I decided to take them to the movies. We got to the cinema at City Mall and wouldn't you know it? All the movies that I thought would be a good choice for kids were sold out or had started much earlier than our arrival. Of course.

So I started looking at the more adult movies that still wouldn't be too bad for kids. We finally decided to see 2012. Not too bad a choice. The kids did enjoy it, even though I had 2 little ones on my lap for most of it, with the Diva covering her ears. They enjoyed the earthquakes and buildings falling, etc. It scared them but not too bad...or so I thought.

The other night the Little Prince got out of bed to tell me that he was scared. He was scared of earthquakes and we shouldn't have seen that movie. {That movie we saw over a year ago.} He was afraid there would be an earthquake. I assured him that we don't have earthquakes here. {OK, I know. New Madrid fault. Sue me.} I sent him off to bed and he went right to sleep.

The next morning I got up and had the local news on while I emptied the dishwasher and had my morning coffee. Wouldn't you know it? There was an earthquake in Arkansas! Can you believe it?! Luckily it wasn't one of the rare mornings that he gets up early. Luckily he's not familiar with Arkansas and its location.

This morning we were watching Today and they were showing footage of the quake in New Zealand. I could see his little eyes getting wide. I made a point of explaining that the earthquake that was real, in spite of the fact that people were hurt and killed, wasn't nearly as bad as the ones in the movie. I pointed out the differences. He seems reassured, especially after I explained that they're so far away they're tomorrow already.

My little bruiser...he's the one most likely to pummel a sibling, the one who gets in the most trouble at school (for talking and playing), and truly oppositional and stubborn, but he's also one of the most sensitive souls you'll ever meet. I wouldn't change him one iota.