It took a whole month after the movie Cars 2 premiered in the US to get here. Quite a while, and all attempts to sneak a peak had led to disappointment. And while the toys kept pouring in from all directions in all variations, all we could do was wait.
It opened on the 22nd of August, yet, I never even bothered getting advanved screening tickets for it. Somehow, if you deprive someone of something for so long, you eventually lose your excitement over it. Still, it wasn't a movie that I was just going to let pass. Jakjak and I practically grew up on the first Cars movie (all that monologue might get us somewhere soon). At least I knew that there would not be as much people and kids watching, but what surprised me was that the movie theater was not even half full. They must have gone through the same feeling that I did.
Excitedly, we went through the doors and I was surprised to see 3D glasses at the entrance. I was thinking "The ticket dude made a mistake and gave me tickets for the 3D movie! Cool!". However, what greeted us was a 3D movie of Final Destination! Jakjak froze and only then did I think to look at the movie ticket. It says "1". Mum led us to "2" because we were going to watch Cars 2. Makes sense.
We settled down to the correct theater with popcorn and soda on hand. One of the things I like doing is just watch trailers of upcoming movies, look for which ones might be good watch. That dolphin movie looks just about right.
Jakjak surely enjoyed himself watching Cars 2. He likes Francesco. I liked it, but I missed everybody. It does not feel like Cars, except maybe for Mater. Everybody elses character feels a bit off. It's still a very good movie for what it is. While all the extra cast are a welcome sight (feels good to have that challenge of identifying the car's real life counterpart), I feel like there are just too many of them that you lose out on the others. Towards the end of the movie, it became a contest to identify the places where the Lightning and Mater went to as they travelled around the world. It was a good exercise for Jakjak doing that.
All in all, it did make an impression on him. He ended up playing with his old Cars die-casts when we got home. But it did not have the same effect that the first Cars movie had on us. That one, still rocks!
Kids grow up so fast these days. And they seem to be smarter and more curious about the world than we were. During his explorations and expeditions, Jakjak managed to make mistakes and accidents happen around him spontaneously. Because of this, I had always been too quick to judge his adventurous nature as the cause of most bangs and crashes wherever we were (the other half would have been caused by his mum).
Jakjak also managed to amass a good number of toys that we had stashed in his room over 5 years. Some have come and gone to his younger cousins, some have gone to charity and some (if not most) have gone to the bin. Those binned broken toys have become less as he grew up, but there are still toys that seem to "mysteriously" disappear every now and then. Some find their way back, and some don't. But because he has too many toys to account for, sometimes we don't even know which one has gone missing, except for his "favourite" toys (which is still a lot).
One day, the tailfin of his newly acquired transport plane went missing. And since I liked that plane as well, I was quite cross. I told him that he wouldn't be able to get any new toy until he found that missing tailfin. It's been a week snce the tailfin got lost and I had already been searching along with him all throughout the house (our flat is NOT big and I have already turned it over twice!), but have not found a clue to where it has gone. "Dad, I only played with it in our room", was the standard reply from Jakjak.
I finally found the tailfin.
Stashed in one of the boxes of our Tomy town buildings.
And yes, he didn't put it there (his playmate did).
"See Dad! I told you I only played with it in our room".
He got me. The brilliant little bugger. It was like one of those revelation moments that a spiritual being had spoken a mysterious truth and you are having difficulties understanding what it actually meant. So, I apologize to the lad and admit that I had been wrong about that inicident.
I don't see anything wrong with admitting something that was true. I don't see anything wrong telling my son that dads make mistakes too. In fact, I think he should know that his dad isn't perfect, but he should also feel that his dad is still his dad. There is a thing called fear, and a thing called respect. There is a big difference, and children will not understand that difference until after a few more years into their lives. It's important that he does not mistake one for the other, and this is where parents need to be a little bit wary of when dealing with their children.
Birthday parties. It's one of those things that every child wants. Whether he is the one throwing the party or he is just going to have fun at someone else's.
For some reason though, Jakjak has always been selective at parties. He is initially shy when we attend a party where he does not really know a lot of the other kids. But he does warm up to them (much more quickly nowadays, thank God) and eventually plays with the other kids. He plays only with the nicer ones, and mostly older girls. Probably because he relates to them more, but who knows if he has other motives.
So, parties. There are hotdogs, cakes, spaghetti and then some. Jakjak, he likes pratas. So he rarely eats a lot at parties. He just wants to play as much as he can and nibbles only bits and pieces of cake. Ice cream? If it's not soft swirl and served in dixie cones, he won't have it.
He will get involved in games though (but only recently as well, he just gets up there and joins, and wins!). We taught him how to be a good sport, which was a good idea seeing how some kids become rowdy mad when they don't win. Although, I'm not quite sure if Jakjak winning a game or two helps in his 'good sport' mode. The one thing he had never wanted to do or be involved in, is face painting. No reason at all. He just does not want to. He would rather finger paint at home!. So yeah, there may be things we need to work on. I'm just concerned that he might decide to simply host the party instead of living it.
Toys.
It's definitely the one thing that Jakjak and I always (well, price-dependent almost-always) agree on. Usually much to mum's frustration. But how far along have we really gone when it comes to buying toys for our children? What criteria is there now that was not there when our parents were buying toys for us?
I, personally, did not have a whole lot of toys when I was Jakjak's age. Compared to how much he has got in his drawers now, I probably have less than half. That's not to say I did not like toys, I mean, every kid and 'kids at heart' has a soft spot for toys. I was no exception. What I lacked in toys back then, I made up for playing tag or hide-and-seek with my friends and neighbours. I also learned to be crafty and made my own toys way back when (ah yes, the faint memory of a G1 Optimus Prime made from cardboard and sticky tape - which transforms from truck to robot, mind you - all hand crafted!).
Today, the choices are endless. Even during his infant years, Jakjak's toys had been about choices. While there are hundreds of choices ranging from dirt cheap to obnoxiously expensive, old pre-owned to new old-stock, it all came down to our choice. There were toys that promised cognitive development and toys that promised honing of motor skills. Toys that promised improved IQ, and tpys that promised improved EQ. What we got for Jakjak was what we thought would be best for him at the time. He therefore grew up with a balanced array of motor skills, intellectual skills and emotional skills. Back in my day, I never would have thought of toys being educational. Granted, "sumpit" had taught me how to curse after the bruises in my arm, and I learned how to wince at pain when I fell off a tree playing hide-and-seek (if I screamed, I would have given away my hiding place).
This is still true today, about choices. We give Jakjak choices on the toys he wants to buy, and we pull him away from toys that are not suitable for his age. As a father, I have to admit that he would ask and be interested in toy guns and the like. But I also have a responsibility to him to teach him about the consequences of guns in the society. Some people may not give a crap about the effect of toys on a child, but I do. Remember that there is a term called "parental guidance is recommended"? Parents, that term was meant for you.
With choice, comes great responsibility. Or something like it. Part of the evolution of toys that we have to contend with today, is what it's made of. There's plastic, plastic and even more plastic. There are also the chemicals and toxins that are in the paint, the plastic, the metal and whatever it is the toy is made of. In fact, if you wanted your child to be safe from harmful chemicals, it's best not to buy him any toys at all. And then we have to accept that it's not exactly a viable option. I mean, a child without toys is like a grown up without toys. So go for toys that are right for his age and something he can grow up with. Go for wood instead of plastic. Less paint or in particluar, artificial color. And of course, nothing that can fit in his mouth (up until he is at the stage that he knows which is edible and which is not). As an added bonus, there are actually toys that dad can share with his son (oh the joy).
Ever since Jakjak learned how to walk on his own, one of my greatest fears had been him walking too far off on his own, and getting lost. So in the early days of learning how to walk, my eyes rarely wandered off him. This, sometimes surprisingly, gets me stuck in the ladies lingerie section of malls (thankfully, those dagger-stares turn into looks of approval once they see the little guy merrilly walking about under the black satin panties).
When Jakjak learned how to run, this fear magnified by 5. When you are under 3 feet tall, you can duck and fit practically anywhere! Which becomes a problem for this not-so-petite build of mine. The last time he did his duck and weave, Jakjak went through the ladies dressing room! I don't think running after him through there would have done my health any good. Even more surprising, he showed up from the other side of the dressing room (apparently, the room was a walk through room)!
In time, we managed to talk him into walking back when he loses sight of us, to shout "mum" or "dad" when he feels lost, or to look for a "police officer" (we got this from one of his story books) or security guard in case he could not find us, and to never talk to strangers when he is wandering about. This last point he seems to be having problems understanding, but at the very least, he informs the stranger that he is with his mum and dad and points to us and he does this only when we are around as well.
Those reminders aside, he once got himself lost in Toys R' Us. While we were confident that he would do what we had taught him to do in case he got lost, he got into a state of panic and ran around crying, looking for us. Not too bad for his first time getting lost. After some re-assurance, he got lost again sometime after, in a different Toys R' Us outlet. Luckily, Customer Service was near that outlet and a good samaritan brought him to the counter. Mum eventually found him there, obviously scared with tears brimming in his eyes, but at least he only cried when he saw Mum. coming to pick him up.
He had some more near misses after that, and he still manages to get himself "slightly" lost from time to time. But so far, he has been able to pull himself together and attempts to look for us first before anything else. Until he gets embedded with his own tracking device though, my eyes are still on that kid as much as possible.
