Let's Analyze.... Christopher Robin

A few weeks ago, my sister had mentioned to me that her oldest son (14) and daughter (13) had just realized that the characters from Winnie the Pooh were all in Christopher Robin's imagination.
They were floored.

I imagine that this was one of those moments for them that was similar to when they realized that Santa, the tooth fairy, and the Easter bunny weren't real. There was a slight shock factor, but an understanding as well.

By the time kids are old enough to realize the truth, they understand the purpose behind the story.

With this fresh in my mind, Sofia and I were sitting on the couch watching and episode of Winnie the Pooh where everyone forgot Eeyore's birthday and they were trying to make up for it.

This got me thinking... Kids replay events through play. I've heard Sawyer do this with his Hotwheels.

Could this episode have been Christopher Robin reaching out, hoping that someone would remember his birthday? I mean, we rarely see his parents and he has to resort to playing with stuffed animals by himself in the woods.

Now, that got me wondering, who do all of the characters stand for?

Here's my little gut-punch to your childhood.

Obviously we have Christopher Robin. A lonely, only child who fills his time creating elaborate stories using his stuffed animals to work out his emotional issues.

Kanga- CR's mother. In real life, his mother is absent most of the time. She's probably strict and absorbed in CR's step-father. So in CR's pretend world, she's loving, involved, and is a kangaroo. Kangaroos have a pouch in which their young stay close to them. Obviously something CR craves with his mother.

Roo- CR's sibling which was never born, eventually causing his parent's divorce. Roo isn't gender specific, because CR didn't care which gender his sibling would have been. He just wanted a sibling.

Rabbit- CR's bitter, grumbling, neurotic father who can never be the same after the divorce. He thrust himself into his garden as an obsessive way to ignore what's really going on in his life.

Owl- CR's step-father. A pompous, arrogant man who is cultured and thinks he always knows best. He cares very little about anyone but himself and makes people feel small to make himself feel better.

Gopher- The crazy grandfather. Enough said.

Pooh- A friend that CR made up to make himself feel empowered and confident. After all, it always makes us feel better to have a friend that we can correct and make feel little -"Silly old Pooh." - Sounds sweet, but is meant in a derogatory way.

Tigger- Tigger represents the childhood that CR should have had if infertility hadn't caused the divorce. He's bouncy, hyper, and has the speech of a three year old. He's everything that childhood should be.

Piglet and Eeyore- These represent CR's emotions that someone as young as him can't understand. Piglet is nervous and scared of everything (Wouldn't you if your whole life was changed?) He hides when someone knocks at the door and is cautious of everything. He's constantly wondering "What's going to go wrong now?" He's eager to please everyone and wants to tag along. Eeyore is the depression that stems from the loss that CR has endured. "What's the point? No one cares about me. Everyone forgot about me." There may even be feelings of masochistic nature. He does keep asking people to stab him with his tail.

There you have it, people. That sad, sad tale of Christopher Robin. I'm sure there's much more that can be analyzed with these characters, but I already feel evil for even crossing this line. I suggest you go and watch the older episodes of Winnie the Pooh and see what you think now.

Happy watching!
-Heather

Yesterday, All My Troubles Seemed So Far Away....

Breathe... It's something that I needed to keep reminding myself to do yesterday. It wasn't an awful day, but one of those that was just unexpectedly busy.

Josh turned 26 yesterday! For some reason, 26 was a hard number for both of us to admit to turning. I have no idea why. I expected either 25 or 30, or both, but no, it was 26. He had to go to school and work, so we didn't get to do much. I used to try really hard to make his birthday amazing and special. Growing up, there were 7 kids in his family, so birthdays didn't get to be that special. But, over the years, other things have taken precedence unfortunately,  like it does when we grow up. However, he did score some pretty cool presents!

I knew I wanted to get him Go Radio's new album. He listened to it almost every morning on YouTube, so that was an easy gift to figure out.

 But that didn't seem like enough.
I went to our trusty threadless.com to find him some t-shirts. They had an awesome half off sale, so he was able to get two shirts for the price of one! Yay! for savings!
Sawyer actually picked out the designs this time and he was so proud of himself! Honestly, I was proud of him too, because he has great taste!

I can never wait until Josh's birthday or Christmas to give him his gifts, so he got them as they came in the mail.

Saturday, Sawyer and I went to a day event for our Cub Scout pack. He was having a blast until he got this weird rash and shortly after, a high fever. So he got to stay home from school yesterday and today. Of course he's mad that he doesn't get to go to school, so he's been grumpy at me all morning.

We are unexpectedly upgrading to iPhone now. Sofia gave my phone a bath either in a cup or the toilet- we'll just say a cup. Now it doesn't work and I've been without a phone for an entire day now. It seems like it would be more peaceful without one, but I'm constantly wondering, "Who's trying to call me? I don't have an alarm now! Was there anything on that phone that I needed to take off?!" I really hate change, but this is something we've needed to do for years now. I'm cheap, I can't help it.

I also voted yesterday as you guys know. What I didn't tell you, was that I had a slight panic attack when I got to the booth. Okay, to be honest, I had a moment in the car before I went in because I was afraid I would have a panic attack in the booth! Ridiculous! I panicked because I was worried about panicking?!
I was okay standing in line, but I froze when it came time to actually push buttons. I was afraid I was going to hit he wrong candidate and the jargon they use for the special issues confused me! I eventually got through it, but I felt like I was sweating bullets by the end.

Since I didn't have a phone, I had forgotten there was a committee meeting for Boy Scouts, so my sister showed up at my house to pick me up, but I had no idea what was going on. She reminded me and I got to spend the next hour-and-a-half hanging out with friends. I just love our scouts.

So, that was my Monday in a nutshell!

P.S. On the Go Radio album, there's a song called "Go to Hell" where they sing that exact line... LOUDLY. I happened to be driving home this morning listening to it with the window cracked when I had to slow down for a dog. I didn't notice the dog's owners standing in the yard when that line blared out the speakers. I got a "Who do you think you are look". It all just happened to happen so perfectly that it seemed like I was telling them to go to hell because their dog was in the road. I got a chuckle out of it, but they didn't.

Anyways,
Happy Tuesday!
-Heather

Breathe... It's Almost Over

Yep! I sure did! My vote is cast and now we wait and see.

Regardless of your political affiliation or opinions, I want you to vote. It's empowering to know that I have a voice (which is occasionally loud) when it comes to what happens in my community and country.

As I stood in the line waiting to cast my vote, I looked around and beamed from ear to ear. There were so many different kinds of people, young and older. I expect a large turnout from people in their mid-twenties and older to vote, but I saw an incredible amount of most likely first-time voters today.

It's not only an incredibly important voting year for our country, but for our state, city, and county as well. There were a lot of decisions to make and I'm confident in my vote.

There's been so much negativity towards our presidential candidates. I know there always is, I'm not jaded. And I know everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I would hope that you consider others feelings, opinions, religions, sexual preferences, and living preferences before you blast your opinion out there.

Regardless of who runs our country, we are all people, and we are all in this together. We are teaching our children that we were put on this Earth to help others, to live life to the fullest through helping others. Don't get lost in the silliness of politics, y'all. While they are important, remember to also focus on your home, your family, your friends, and neighbors. We can't completely control what happens in our capitol, but we can control most of what happens right in front of us.

Cliche, I know, but peace and love. They can't change everything in the world, but they can make this cruel place bearable.

Happy voting!
-Heather