The Verdict...

I hate to say it, but the verdict on Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" is a big thumbs down. Nevermind the racial stereotypes that are all over the place (white people are wealthy and run society, black people are stuck serving the white aristocracy, black people are less educated than white people, etc.), the movie was downright scary for any kid under that age of 10 or 12. Voodoo, ghosts, demons from hell (literally!), monsters trying to eat the main characters every other minute...the theater was filled with crying kids. After I got Miss M to calm down from the first scare, a second one came no less than 5 minutes later and she started crying "I want go home!" Poor baby. That was all I needed to hear. We left half way through. Luckily she's pretty resilient and we were close to Rockefeller Center so we went to see the big Christmas tree while we waited for the second part of the show to open: The Princess Ball.

This part was SO MUCH fun for her. Disney rented the Roseland Ballroom (around the corner from the theater) and had every princess Disney has ever created there in person for the kids to meet and get their pictures with. She was in AWE and her little mouth was wide open as she met Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, and the gang. Was very cool and we got lost of pics.

Daddy had to get in on the action as well. Some of those princesses were pretty damn cute! I'm proud to say that the cutest one in my opinion looked nothing like Barbie as I've discussed in a previous post. Pocahontas won the Hot Princess Award and it was for more than her loin cloth. Beautiful long black hair, olive skin, brown eyes...everything Barbie is not. Who knows folks, maybe I'm growing! :) I didn't ask her for the number to her teepee though. Still seeing Hot Girl so kept my admiration to myself.

After that we jumped in a cab and went to see Santa at Macy's. Again, mouth open, total awe. Being three, she "gets" Christmas now...at least, that she's going to "get" on Christmas. Every morning she wakes up and runs to the tree looking for presents! Funny.

Overall, we had a terrific week and a half together. She's really taken with my family which I'm so happy about. Her mother's family is such a mess and mostly overseas. Having my family show her how families love and support eachother is important to me. It's one of the reasons I decided to divorce her mother: I didn't want Miss M to think that what was going on in our house was how things are supposed to be.

She talked about family all week and has been asking a ton of questions. It did bring up the "why aren't Mommy and Daddy together" subject. Not directly, but at drop off at her mother's she said "Daddy stay here!" and did the same last night when her mother dropped her off. Makes me sad but I guess that's the choice we've made. Lesser of two evils for sure.

It's nice to be back in the Blogworld. Ma and Pa Big City Dad have such an old computer that it was impossible for me to post or even read emails. I'm looking forward to seeing what my cyber friends have been up to.

Happy Turducken Day!

Looks good, huh? For any of you guys and gals who watched John Madden broadcasting the Thanksgiving football games, you know what a turducken is. If you don't, boy are you in for a treat.

Turducken is a holiday masterpiece that includes a semi-boneless turkey stuffed with a deboned chicken that's stuffed with a deboned duck breast. Triple-bird-alicious. The best Turducken you'll find are those from Louisiana-based Cajun Grocer. They offer five different 15-lbs Turduckens with either cornbread stuffing, seafood kambalaya, cornbread/rice dressing, creole sausage, or plain (veggies only). They also offer 4-lbs Turducken Rolls with either cornbread or pork sausage. It's the Thanksgiving Ménage à trois of meals.

Miss M and I are going to see my folks this holiday and there's NO CHANCE Mama Big City would make one of these. We'll have fun though hanging with the whole fam, especially my two nephews and my niece, who LOVE Miss M and only live 30 minutes from my parents. They even invited us over for a sleep over! Fun!

A log of the single parent posts I've read talk about starting your own new holiday traditions post divorce. Turducken is now my new tradition. The Ex thought was disgusting (maybe, but isn't Thanksgiving all about gratitude through over indulgence??? Spoken like a true man, I know) The second weekend after Thanksgiving I won't have Miss M, so all my friends are coming over for the first annual Turducken Holiday Feast. Kind of like UFC # whatever, but with a little less blood :)

What fun new Thanksgiving ideas have you come up with as single parents? Would love to hear them!

I'll try to post while we're gone, but Mama and Papa Big City have a computer from 1972. Might be tough. If you don't hear from me, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!