I've been watching a lot of Curious George recently. I don't mean that as a complaint, because it is a cute show, and certainly better than a lot of children's shows! But in watching it, I've realized that I am now officially a grown up. It all started a few years ago when I read The Wind in the Willows and hated it (read my reasons why here). That should have been my first clue! I had such issues with a frog who could pass for a cleaning woman and animals that could apparently speak English. These are not issues that would bother a child!
When I was young, I lived in another world. I had pretend friends (yes, that's plural), a pretend unicorn (I guess I don't need the word "pretend" there), and like I said, a pretend world (called "Magic Land"). It was located on the rings of Saturn and I would ride my unicorn around them all day! (I also had two older brothers, Peter and Bobby, who interestingly looked a lot like their namesakes on The Brady Bunch.)
And what language do you think my unicorn spoke? English!
Now I watch Curious George and I wonder, how do all these people not realize their waiter is a monkey? Why is that restaurant reviewer not bothered by the monkey making her soup? Aren't there health code violations here?
But Audrey just giggles and makes monkey sounds.
So here I am, a boring, old, grown-up. Apparently, I can't find the magic in life any more.* But on the other hand, I have a beautiful, little daughter who is just discovering that monkeys can make soup and frogs can speak English, so maybe I can pretend with her a little while longer.
*Maybe this isn't really true, given that my favorite genre is fantasy fiction! Why don't I have a problem with worlds that are inhabited by hobbits, elves, wizards, and all sorts of other magical creatures, but it really bothers me when frogs dress up as cleaning women to escape prison???