Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Choose Your Battles.

Tucker's current favorite in the realm of animated television is the VeggieTales movie, Dave and the Giant Pickle. It's a parody of the story of David and Goliath, portrayed with a wise cucumber, a narrating tomato, an army of french peas, a very brave asparagus, and of course, a giant pickle.

It's his favorite. He simply calls it, "Giant Pickle."

(Which is greatly improved from what he used to call it: "Dite Booger." Try explaining that one to the passerby at the grocery store, who falls prey to Tucker's sketchy storytelling.)

It's not so much Tyler's favorite. He is really rather scared of that towering pickle. As Dave winds up with his stone in his slingshot, Tyler runs into the kitchen and watches from around the corner. Better to take cover as the Giant Pickle falls to the ground... you never know when he could come to life and crash through the TV. The kitchen is a safer bet.

Everyday after his nap, Tucker requests another viewing of the Giant Pickle. Every single day. Without fail. One more time.

Yesterday, in one of my lesser moments, I decided to persuade him to choose a different show for his post-naptime entertainment. He had already watched Giant Pickle that morning, and every day this week, I reasoned. There are many other choices. Time to expand the repertoire.

As his sadness increased and the meltdown commenced, I stuck to my guns. Nope. No Giant Pickle today. Choose something else.

(Until this thought crossed my mind: Wait just one minute, there, SuperMom. Of all the things for him to crave, he really wants to hear a Bible story. Yet again. You're wise to cut him off. Absolutely. Rein that one in before it gets too far out of control. No more Bible stories after naptime. This is definitely a hill to die on.)

Giant Pickle won again.

(I just needed a healthy dose of Perspective.)

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