This post has been rolling around between my ears for months. In fact this is not my first attempt at writing it. Figuring out what story best represents the arrival of Beatrix Abaigeal to our family, and what to say about it, has eluded me. Well, I can't escape from it, and so I'm going with one of the most remembered authors of my childhood, Beatrix Potter; specifically, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny (we love you cousin Benjamin). Beatrix Potter is of course the obvious choice, but much like choosing a name for a baby, I was never quite sure. I mean, the stories are about cute little animals ... bunnies, squirrels, ducks, kittens. But, they are all a bit creepy, scary even. Not a big deal if you're reading to an infant, but the three year old has started to ask too many questions. Good questions. Questions that are hard to dance around.
For a couple weeks Alasdair was really into reading Lizzie's Lion, a great little rhyming story about a girl and her lion. Oh, a girl and her lion and a robber that creeps into her bedroom in the middle of the night, right. Alasdair now asks at the end of the book "What happened to the robber, Mommy?" My response is "He's in the garbage can", which is true, I just leave out a few details that would be contained in a more complete answer such as: "He's dead, the lion tore him to shreds, and they scraped the pieces off the walls and ceiling and put them in a garbage bag and threw him out with the trash". But I can tell Alasdair is not quite satisfied with my response.
But you know, I think kids like scary. Or, Alasdair does anyway. "There's a monster in your room mommy" or "There's a ghost in the living room" have become a part of our play. And he says these looking partly scared, but usually with a smile on his face like he's having fun. Or, as an attempt to get me to go get the toy from the other room for him because he couldn't possibly go in there alone with the creature.
Alasdair likes Fairy Tales and Beatrix Potter stories despite the fear factor, or perhaps because of it. I know because he retells them and plays them. It gives his imagination another avenue beyond its two most common themes "Let's go to the store and buy bagels" and "Where's your mommy?" Besides, he asks you to read them again (but it's againa, not simply again). So we're going to stick with them for now. We'll head out on adventures with Benjamin Bunny and Peter Rabbit as they are chased and trapped by Mr. McGregor and his cat. Our hearts will beat faster and we'll hold our breath and sigh with relief when everything works out okay. And that sounds just a little bit like bringing a new baby home to meet her big brother. I have let out my sigh of relief, everything is working out just fine. And we'll get to watch Beatrix and her big brother adventure happily through childhood, just like Peter and Benjamin.
I am not particularly interested in space, at least not consciously. I like Star Wars, I loved the X Files. Before Alasdair was born we called him Moonbaby and Seumas writes a blog called The Martian Hop. Beatrix has a birthmark that some people have said looks like a Hershey Kiss, but I have always thought (and prefer to think) that it looks like a UFO. So maybe I am into space. What of it? Although I am uncertain about how much I love space, I do know that I love Oliver Jeffers. So much so that Alasdair and Beatrix's rooms are decorated in the style of his books. Beatrix has The Great Paper Caper, and Alasdair, The Way Back Home. In the latter, the boy finds an ah-plane (as Alasdair would say) and crash lands on the moon. Later that night a Martian also makes an emergency landing on the moon (Alasdair is into emergencies). And although they are initially nervous of each other, fearing the other is a monster, they figure things out, and help each other find the way back home, or as Alasdair puts it, "This one (the martian) goes to his family, and this one (the boy) goes back to the penguin." This is just the kind of story I like, almost ordinary, but just a little bit strange or off kilter. Plain old ordinary just doesn't interest me. 
And speaking of strange and mysterious, here was a real puzzler that Alasdair put to us last evening (sorry to those of you who read Seumas's blog, but my version's a bit different anyway). Seumas, Alasdair and I were sitting out on the back deck eating yoghurt, when Alasdair walks over to Seumas and asks, "Daddy, are you afraid of eateemores?" Seumas makes an attempt at guessing what Alasdair is trying to say, fails miserably, and Alasdair gets a bit upset, but with some coaxing, tries again. "Eateemores." This time Seumas repeats exactly what Alasdair has said, and Alasdair nods affirmation. We are both puzzled at this point. Seumas tells Alasdair that he's not afraid of eateemores, and I ask him to tell us more about eateemores. He launches into a fantastic tale of a monkey in space, and as he speaks I vaguely recognize a Wonder Pets episode that he mentioned before. "Meteor" I say. I've figured it out, but Alasdair looks at me unconvinced and goes on to tell us what a eateemore could do to you. It'll make your eye pop out in case you're wondering ... be afraid.
