pokemon « coffee with Julie

Posts Tagged ‘pokemon’

October 28th, 2009

Used bed sheets

I never thought I’d see the day where I would buy used bed sheets. Yes, you read that right — used, as in second-hand. I’m trying to rationalize this act right now. I mean, any time I sleep in a hotel room, I’m sleeping on used sheets, right?

I know what you’re thinking. That in this day and age of Zellers, Winners and Walmart, there is really no reason for resorting to buying used sheets. A fancy designer stroller, sure. But sheets, no.

But it’s not that. It’s not the cost of these sheets that required them to be bought used. In fact, I paid a good price for them and now I have to actually pay to have them shipped here too. Oh, and customs fees too. That’s right. I bought used sheets from another country, no less.

Okay, let me back up. I got myself in this used-sheets predicament about a year ago. At that time, we had moved to Australia for a one-year exchange. The house that we were living in was absolutely beautiful. And in the room where my daughter was to stay, there was a hand-painted mural of fairies dancing in a forest under moonlight. The shelves above the bed were lined with teddy bears and baby dolls. There was also a handmade wooden doll bed, with an assortment of lovely little clothes. A girl’s dream come true.

Well, not my girl. She never complained. Never said an impolite word. But you could just see the discomfort she felt. It just didn’t feel like “her” room. Her room wouldn’t have fairies, and baby dolls, and teddy bears. So I carefully packed all of these up and stored them in a closet for the year. Naturally, though, I could do nothing about the fairy mural. And we couldn’t hang pictures up for fear of ruining the paint. We came up with a way of hanging posters from the curtain rod though, and that seemed to help.

What kind of posters, you ask? Why, Pokemon of course. And I also promised at that time that when we returned to Canada, she could have her own room decked out in full Pokemon regalia.

We arrived back in Canada in the middle of last winter. Life was busy settling back into school and work. Time passed quickly. But Stella had not forgotten the promise of a Pokemon room. I agreed that I would get her room together for October. October 1st came and went. Stella noted this. I bluffed and said that I meant by the end of October.

Since then, she has started creating reminders for me on post-it notes and discreetly leaving them about the house. Like this one that she left for me on my bedside table:

small note

I know, it’s cute. And guilt-inducing.

But do you know how hard it is to do a Pokemon room? Sure, walk into any Sears and find Hot Wheels, My Little Pony, or Sponge Bob. But, Pokemon? Noooooo. One cannot find a single set of Pokemon bedsheets in all of Canada. I’m serious, I’ve looked everywhere. Nor can one find curtains, clocks, wall decor. The only place I’ve found them is on eBay. From international sellers. Second-hand.

And that’s my little story about how I found myself buying used sheets. (And yes, I will be washing them in boiling hot water with lots of detergent when they finally make it here!)

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August 22nd, 2009

I blame Dora

Although I like to blame Dora the Explorer for my daughter’s pinata fascination, the truth is that it’s become a bit of a cherished tradition around here.

The 'Rough Dog' Pinata

It all started on her fourth birthday (yes, that time when all children exposed to a shouting girl in a jungle become madly infatuated and start learning Spanish at amazing speed). We were in Australia at the time and the only thing that Stella requested for her birthday celebration was a pinata. Her grandmother and I set out with her to a party-supply store to hunt one down. We found some, but the pickings were slim. Stella examined each choice carefully and decided upon what she called a “rough dog.” The rough dog was actually a bull, so it’s no wonder it didn’t look like a “cute dog” to her! (To this day, she doesn’t know that it was actually a bull and not a dog. She really likes dogs, so I don’t want to stomp on this nice memory.)

You’d certainly be forgiven for thinking that pinatas, like Dora, are of Mexican descent. Instead, China is said to have been the original creator of this paper mache treat.

It goes like this: On his travels, Marco Polo came across pinatas in 13th century Orient. The Mandarin people would celebrate holidays with animal effigies made of paper and ribbon. These effigies would be filled with seeds and hung from a tree branch. And just like today, sticks were used then to beat open the pinata and release the seeds. When Marco Polo returned to Italy, he brought this pinata tradition back with him. From Italy, the fun was spread to Spain, and then from Spain to the ‘New World’ of North America.

Of course, these days, you’d never find something as healthy as a seed inside a pinata. But that’s the New World for ya.

The Making of the Dino Pinata

Speaking of the New World … when her fifth birthday hit and we were back in Canada, no simple ‘rough dog’ was going to suffice when my husband came on task. He took it upon himself to create a pinata from scratch in whatever particular vision Stella had in mind. Dinosaurs were a bit of an obsession by this point. (And I’m not exaggerating when I use the word ‘obsession.’ She insisted that we, and everyone at her daycare, call her Yellow Dinosaur and not Stella. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve seen the dino exhibit at the Museum of Nature.)

I really couldn’t tell you how many hours went into making this dinosaur pinata. It was clearly a labour of love (although my husband would probably claim money-saving advantages).

Completed Dinosaur Pinata

The irony of spending hours and hours on something only to smash it to smithereens is not lost on me. Personally, if I had made this masterpiece of a pinata, I’d probably have thrown my body on top of it as soon as the stick and blindfold were brought out.

But no, this didn’t happen. Instead, we all eagerly took turns whacking it with a stick until its insides released sugar-laden goodies all over the grass.

We’ve just celebrated another birthday here. A 7th birthday. Stella, although still somewhat enamoured by dinosaurs has transferred her obsession to Pokemons. And yes, we’re in obsession territory here again. Anyhow, she picked a Pokemon by the name of Chancy to be the lucky effigy.

Chancy the Pokemon Pinata

I tried to find an image of Chancy to share with you because, honestly, this pinata is a work of art! But alas, I could not. (However, if you have Pokemon fans in your home, a Pokedex is surely close at hand!)

We spent the special day at Cosmic Adventures with a friend and then welcomed our family to our home for a BBQ. All this was nice, sure, and even the Pokemon cake was good. But the big highlight of any birthday for Stella is pinata time. When the big moment arrived, each child lined up to have their turn smashing Chancy three times. And I tell ya, this Chancy is cute and all, but man, is he tough! Each child had several turns before the goods started to seep out of Chancy’s belly. And then finally – bang! – every toy and goodie flew out. Chancy’s days were over.

After the party died down and we were tidying up, Stella told me she felt a bit sad about Chancy. She said she really didn’t like him get wrecked. This, I could understand. She and her father had invested a great deal of time in creating this Pokemon pinata. I gave her a hug and wondered if our family pinata tradition had shreeched to a halt.