Dress Up

We have a large hamper full of dress up clothes at our house. It started when Nat was just a little thing. We would pick up princess costumes after Halloween on the clearance rack. And the collection grew. She was even given her very own pop-up "fashion show" tent. As far as costumes, we had a little of everything, from Cinderella to Belle, to renaissance, to flapper-girl. And jewelry, shoes and purses to match.

Oh the purses!

Then along came Godzilla. And train conductors, firemen, knights and superheros all began appearing in the hamper. He has masks and belts and hoods and capes and even a pair of fireman boots. The two of them go through phases where dress-up is included in every day's play. Right now is one of those phases. They are forever wearing masks and crowns and "glass slippers" and capes.

I love the 80s

You know that VH1 show, "I Love the 80's" where they talk about how, like, totally rad the decade was and highlight the Rubik's Cube and the Sony Walkman? Yea, that's the one. Well, I love the 80s. I have great memories of those years. I remember great TV, much of which I've already introduced to my kids. I remember my favorite sports stars from the 80s: Montana, Sandberg, and Payton still decorate my walls. I remember playing Ninja Turtles, Duck Hunt, and Simon.

More recently, NatGeo Channel made a "The 80's: The Decade that Made Us" miniseries. There, they examined the influence things like MTV, the Cold War and the Reagan revolution et.al. had on shaping our world today. This one was less legwarmers, and more Alaskan oil spill. Having been a kid, much of the cultural revolution of the decade went over my head, but I still caught on to major events like the Challenger explosion and Live Aid. I was there for the first personal computers, for "Back to the Future" and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Nowhere in there do I remember giants or dragons...



The following is a transcript of historical events I apparently missed in the 80's as told to my by my 4 year-old son.

"I think dragons were around in the 80s when there were giants. The giants tried to protect us from the other monsters like Bigfoot. And they protected us from pirates. And they did giant-ie things. And sent the pirates to the bottom of the sea. Then the dragons went into hiding, so people didn't know they were still around. But people research dragons so they can learn all about them. And I'm an expert on dragons, so I'll tell you all about them so you know about them too."



After that gem, I look forward to more revisionist history from the best story teller in our house. I think I heard him muttering something about showing me a soccer move from the 80s... Stay tuned!