Samurai Saga: How to Make a 5 Year-Old Cry

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In case you didn't know it, the Power Rangers are still around. In my younger days they were the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Today, they're samurais. They still wear bright costumes, move their arms while talking, and beat small AND giant bad guys. They are also my niece's (Pudding Cup - PC) favorite new TV show.

A week ago PC Skyped me from her dad's iPod. It was a good time, but it was dragging on and PC was making me sick every time she flipped and flopped the iPod. Her dad had decided to nap on the couch, so I decided to plant a seed of annoyance in his daughter's head. My goal - get her to drive her parents crazy by asking for Kung Fu lessons.

During my Skype time with PC, I "called" a random phone number. Would you believe it was Kevin, the blue Power Ranger?? Turns out he lives in the SAME city as PC, and he said she could come visit whenever she wanted ... after she learned Kung Fu.

That night and into the next day, PC asked incessantly for Kung Fu lessons. She also wanted to call Kevin. And every time the phone rang she asked if it was Kevin. Then she dropped the bomb: "Mommy, will you miss me when I move into the samurai house?"

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Obviously I oversold the phone call. While asking for Kung Fu lessons would be funny, I didn't want to plague my sister with a child who wanted to drive through every neighborhood in a major US city in an attempt to find the samurai house. It was time for Kevin and the gang to get an emergency call out - to Oklahoma.

At 8 a.m. the next day I got the call. Hysterics. Sobbing. "Why did they have to MOVE?!? I'll never get to see them again!!" After assuring PC that her favorite super heroes would still be on TV, I switched to damage control. I didn't feel the least bit guilty about PC bugging my sister, but when the kid is so upset that she has to lay in her room to try to calm down enough so she can make it to the birthday party?? Aunt Karin needed to help.

Later that day PC assured me she was feeling better, and that night at dinner she told her grandparents the sad news about the move without shedding a tear. Because she held it together so well, I decided she needed a reward. On Tuesday evening, PC got a special Amazon package in the mail - two Samurai Power Ranger books! Kevin sent them to her because he felt bad about not getting to meet her; now she has two books to remember him by.

Aunt Karin has certainly learned her lesson.

Midgie Missed Me

I know family members shouldn't really have favorites, but at the Beery home sides have been taken. Bucket loves Matt, and Midgie loves me. Bucket will hang out with me if no one else is around, but as soon as Matt walks into the house I'm chopped liver.

Midgie, on the other hand, prefers me and me. While I was gone for two weeks she pretty much ignored Matt. When I got back, she started stalking me:

Even thought it sounds like she wants my attention, it's more than that. Midgie has decided that we have a "spot". She doesn't just want me to pet her - she wants me to follow her to "our spot". I wouldn't mind so much of we had a nice spot, a cozy or scenic or comfortable spot, but that's not the case.

This kitty likes the bathroom. Fabulous. Look at her - rolling around, purring, looking for some lovin'. She's just weird (she is, after all, a Beery).