Posts Tagged ‘Coraline’

…is a cartoon. Seriously.

There are taxes that have to be done ASAP so the already late financial aid forms can be finished double-quick. There’s a big school dinner tomorrow night, 3 gowns to be ordered (graduation(pink), May Day(white) & Prom (anything but pink or white)). Mardi Gras is just around the corner, and we won’t even talk about work.

But…oh, deep breath and happy sigh. At the end of the week, there’s Coraline.

Coraline, for them what don’t know, is based on a “children’s” book by Neil Gaiman. I have no doubt our young heroine has her younger fans, but, really, as an adult, the story scared the bejabbers out of me in a way a kid just couldn’t comprehend.

In brief: our girl, Coraline, is bored- as our kids get. And mom’s busy (as we are), and dad’s distracted (as they are)…and she goes off to amuse herself, as kids do. And she wanders into her “Other Mother,” who pampers her and does all the things Coraline wished her real mother did…except, of course, the OM isn’t what she seems.

And isn’t that really the whole parenting thing in a nutshell? We just can’t do it all, and ooooooh, how’s that guilt hangover after we get snappish? And how about that nagging little voice, telling us that maybe somebody could do it better than us?

Not to mention how many perfect looking strangers do we worry about, people who are really like those joke cans of peanut brittle, lying in wait, hiding coiled snakes ready to leap out and snap up our kids, because…you know. Because we were busy. Because we weren’t paying attention.

And yes, despite those terrors- hell, because of those terrors, I can’t wait to see it. Alison hasn’t got buttons for eyes so far, after all, so I’ll count it as a cautionary tale and enjoy every second.