It’s May, which makes it a strange time of year to be talking about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. But my little boy had him on his mind tonight and in what can only be considered a stunning moment, he told me he no longer liked him or the movie.
Now look, Donovan has his own mind and if he wants to tell me he does not like ice cream, wants the Yankees to win or plans to put a George W. Bush poster in his room, I’ll still love him. Love runs deep.
But Rudolph? I had to pry, needed to know what was troubling him … so I asked. Being the four-year old he is, my little man’s thoughts flowed.
Donovan: “The abominable snowman is bad. He’s mean.”
Daddy: “But he’s not. He’s great. He is good at the end.”
Donovan: “No, daddy, if he’s good, why does everyone run from him?”
Now I had to think fast: “But that was only in the beginning. Then Yukon Cornelius makes him good.”
Donovan: “I have to think about this.”
My little boy had to “think about it.” Brilliant.
Donovan: “OK, I will watch it, but not til Christmas time, right? That’s when Santa comes, right?”
The conversation them meandered through his Decembers, as we jumped from the lit up house on Kime Avenue in North Babylon to the Christmas Village in our den to how Amelia is still too little to open her own presents. He also said the toys in the land of misfit toys needed a home.
Today, I wish I was four.
Oh, and I know he will never like George W. Bush.
Hello, sunshine 