warning: rambley

We were given several awesome kids movies recently. If you are a SAHM, you know this is really a bigger treat for you than it is the kids. There were a couple great ones and then theirs the "Princess Sing Along"...

I'm not a huge fan of Disney Princess in general but we don't avoid them like they're diseased. My girls have like 5 of those baby princess dolls- just the right tottable size! They have the giant princess story book from one of their adopted aunts. We have seen a couple Disney princess movies...sorta. We've seen pieces of Little Mermaid, Brave, and the snipets on this new sing-along. Let me real, some of those would still give Me nightmares.

Let's get back to the sing along. {note: there's really nothing wrong with the movie- this is just a personal quirk} Watching it the first time, I just thought it was awkward. Having grown up with all these movies, I knew the context. My girls {and sadly Jamin who was stuck watching it as well} have no idea what any of these unrealistically beautiful singing women are much less their assumed gentlemen friends, or so we assume even though most of whom these women only met moments before dancing & lusting after gazing at one another. I digress again...

The song. The song I'm trying to get to is one from Mulan II. With having seen only the clip of this song, I can only assume...and Google. This song was birthed in the heart of these 3 sisters under the tyrany of China rule around 200 BC when China was practicing Heqin (Ho-chin) or marriage alliances. Basically, the Chinese Emperor marries off a "princess" (usually a pseudo-princess or concubine whom he had never met before, some heqin princesses were at least noblewomen of recent imperial descent, but had no direct kinship) to an aggressive ethnic minority chieftain or ruler. The theory was that in this arranged marriage the would cease all aggressive/rebellious actions toward China.

In the movie, Mulan {feminist who rebelled against tradition} is helping escort 3 "princesses" to their "aggressive ethnic minority chieftain or ruler" soon-to-be-fiance's. Ironic, ehh? The clip we got to "sing along" with was the "I wanna be like other girls" song. Now with all of this background, heck to the YES, we want these sisters to be like other girls! Not sex-trafficked for "peace" between nations. Do you think I stopped and explained all this to my month-away-from-being-5-year-old? Uuuuhhhh, no. She only heard pretty painted sisters having fun, tossing 'pointy shoes' in the air, and celebrating desirable freedom. What did I tell her an hour later when she was prancing through the kitchen, finding things to doll herself up with, while singing, "I just wanna be like other girls!"?

Stop it.

Well, not exactly. I was quickly taken back and suddenly said, "No Mags! We don't want you to be like other girls." She looked at me like I was crazy and must have missed the compelling performance the geisha dolls gave. She told me again, the line she was singing to reassure me it must be okay since I had allowed her to watch the song. I scooped her up to have a lil...moment. "Maggie, we do not want to be like other girls. We want to be exactly who God made us to be. We are all different and that's good. He wants to use us all differently." I thought that was pretty compelling. Or at least more compelling than the geisha song. Nope. "But mom, why did those princess want to be like all the other girls?" Deep breath, "They don't know Jesus." To this my husband snickers behind me. Mags replies, "oh" with a solemn face. "They don't know God loves them and they haven't met Jesus yet. God wants us to look different than the rest of the world."

We continued our conversation and I attempted to explain to Maggie that this was just one of the reasons I had discouraged her from picking that movie to watch. She reluctantly agreed that I probably couldn't correct every doctrinally wrong thing in the movie at this time, with her being so young and all. I was hoping to feel like victorious. But instead, I felt rather defeated. Having let that falsehood into her mind. You can't take that way. It will always be part of the mold that is Magdalene Reese. What other lies had satan snuck into her tiny brain in that 20 minutes of entertainment?

I know I can't live in fear or guard against everything satan is through my kids' way but I hope that God's truth sunk in deeper than that lie.

update: Mags had now created a song entitled, "I don't wanna be like other girls..." to the same tune and still including the cute lyrics about 'pointy shoes'. LOL

I walked into the living room yielding a razor in one hand and a wet washcloth in the other.

I was maybe 6th grade with immature blonde hair on my pasty legs but with a self-perceived maturity level of a college women. I looked straight into my mamma's eyes and said, "I am Going to start shaving!" Pretty gutsy huh? A 10 or 11-year-old speaking to her mother with such gusto. Such confidence. Such...wisdom?

Bwahahahaha

This had been a long heated discussion among my mom and I. I was determined to hack those precious baby hairs down. I mean, ALL my friends were! She was determined to teach me true beauty, healthy hygiene, and responsibility. You are too young and you don't  need to shave, she would say, If you start shaving, there's no going back.

This boost of confidence that came that evening, came as I watched my mamma answer a phone call from one of her good friends. I knew she would chatting a while and I would have at least some leeway in the normal expectations she had for me. And Thus...the razor! The glare. The smirk. The postponed lecture. The razor burn.

I tell you this silly story of disobedience to explain why my boss has the "Phone Free Work Zone" rule. I thought you were a stay-at-home-mom you might be asking, making you your own boss? That would be correct. I have chosen to work during the day without using my phone. I don't think that's an extreme rule. I mean, most places of employment don't allow cell phones to be used during work hours, why should SAHM be any different?

There have always been jokes about kids getting away with murder when mommy's on the phone but its only funny because there's some truth in it. When people are on the phone, those who are actually with them kinda get the shaft. If you have a teen, you know this often goes with texting as well. Its just a natural thing to pay attention to the electronic. I don't know why. So rather than try and figure out how to constantly tell my friend, "Excuse me while I go beat my child" or "Sorry, I need to go make lunch" or "___ pass poop...again" I just don't use my phone while my kids need me...which is like all the time right now.

Don't get me wrong, I have exceptions every-once-in-a-while when I have to make appointments, when my kids are napping, or my hubby is home. But for the most part friends, this is why I don't answer the phone during the day. Text replies are super delayed. And the habit all day make my phone easily forgotten when I'm "off work" {L.O.L.} Some times I may miss awesome lunch invites or time-pertinent questions but I'd rather miss those than these moments with my kids. Its hard some days but I think its totally worth it.

Disclaimer: I do partake in online work through out the day. I have found that texting, typing, and such can always be saved or dropped much easier than phone calls.

Sorry friends, family, and other random peeps who call me. You're gonna get the voicemail 90+% of the time. Texters...yep, delayed responses. Facebook messagers and emailers- I promise I check my inbox daily...most of the time. Thanks for your understanding. 😉

Any other mom's have a "Phone Free Work Zone"? Thinking of starting one? Think I'm completely crazy?