Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Al is a sad fat cat

I am upset at a recent event in our household. Edith has become quite the reader, so I have gotten out the Frontline Phonics books that never went over well with Balthezar.

There is one titled 'Ham and Jam'

It is the story of Al the cat.

Al is a cat (Happy cat curled up looking around)
Al has ham (cat with a big hamhock)
Al has jam (cat licking lips with a jar of jam and jam all over himself, tummy getting distended)
Al has ham and jam (jam halfway empty, ham halfway eaten, has jam everywhere, and the stomach is bigger)
Al is a fat cat (cat rubbing his distended belly with a sad look on face)
Al is a sad fat cat (same as before)
Al ran. Al ran and ran. (cat on a treadmill with tennis shoes and sweatbands)
Al is a cat (Al is happy again and showing off his new figure)

The 'questions to ask after reading the book'
What made Al so fat?
What did Al eat first?
What did Al do to become thin again?
Why is Al smiling?

I took the book, made a happy face on all the sad faces and crossed out the 'sad' and put in 'happy', but Edith didn't like it like that and wrote in 'sad' again. Now I have it and it will not be in her reading anymore.

Even childrens books are putting pressure on kids that being thin is good, and if you are fat you should be sad.

Now I am remembering Maira's reaction when she got on the WII fit. I don't think that she had her height put in correctly, but at any rate, she got on it and it said she was overweight. Now it doesn't just say you are overweight, it shows your little character getting all fat and sad. Poor Maira was really sad about that. I feel guilty for letting them use it and her having that experience. I told her that the game is messed up and not to worry about it. Now it is just pissing me off.

2 comments:

kath said...

Are you home schooling Edith?

I like the new layout - although it's really funny that you managed to pick my first layout. We must be connected somehow, mentally.

Ivalo said...

That is funny. No, I am not homeschooling. I am still in school full time so that would be crazy! This is just the daily reading that is the kindergarden homework. We have a huge selection, and she likes this book! Arg.