Few Thoughts Bout Kid Stuff

So the other night my nephews (ages 8 and 11) slept over here in Brooklyn.

Here's a few things I noticed:

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1. I'm worried about the comicbook industry.

I'm not super into comicbooks but I've always been into them in theory. I've dabbled in comicbooks over the years. Some Dark Knight. Some Spiderman. Some Punisher. Superman. Etc. Basics. But I never jumped in with both feet. Not sure why. (Right now I'm only involved with one series called The Walking Dead which is zombified..)

Anyway, there's a great comicbook store down the street from me called Rocketship. I've stopped in there a few times with the nephews thinking they'd be all wow-ed out--  but it seems like they have no interest in comicbooks. Zee-row. They're both smart kids and like reading like Harry Potter or Diary of Wimpy Kids or whatever. And they like superhero games and movies--- so I'm a little taken a back by their flatline interest in actual comic books. I dunno. I can't figure it out.

Maybe the whole place looks like a GameStop without the games or something? Like maybe comicbook covers look too much like game manuals? Does the whole store look like a bunch of manuals? I tried to trigger their interest. Look at this! Look at that! Look at this guy! But it's been a No Sale on comicbooks. Like I feel like if we walk into any store and I tell them they can have anything in it--- I'd assume they'd want something just based on the opportunity. Like if we walked into the chicked out beads store next door and they'd be all about wanting beads...

Maybe it takes a special breed to walk into a comicbook store and see it all as brain candy-- but the alarmingly low level of interest is definitely concerning.

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2. Maybe GI Joe was umm.... a little too violent.

So I took the nephews to go see GI Joe. I kinda put this flick in the same category as Transformers in terms of violence and adventure or whatever. Maybe I linked them since they were back-to-back as tv shows back in the day. But in the first scene of the movie when a red hot iron mask is being bolted onto some dudes head like permanent style-- I was like, 'Uh oh... That seemed sort of... scary-ish?' Yadda it was followed by blood. Needles in the face during a painful experiment. Mutated face morph special effect. Screaming in pain. People umm... getting like shot and killed and stuff. (Oopsee?)

Every time something super scary would be going on onscreen I'd look at the younger nephew and he'd be looking away from the screen. We'd stare at each other until the scary stuff was over. And I'd sort of laugh it off for him or tell him it's just a movie and that guy is just a stupid actor. And I'd tell him when it was safe to look again. I was tempted to leave but I figured he should tough it out. (Uncle style decision).

Anyway, the next day, the younger one gets on the phone with my brother and tells him we saw 'a movie' and it freaked him out because this one guy had blood all over his head and this other guy got needles in his face and this other guy was like a monster and this guy got his face burned it really scared me alot and people died and blood and... He sort of went on and on (not mentioning it was GI Joe) and his description sounded like I took em to see friggin Hostel 3 or something... Not 'GI Joe. I later apologized to my brother for emotional scarring his kid a little--- but I can't help thinking the visual toughening up to scary stuff is for the best.

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3. My theory about scary kids.

So the other night (when nephews were sleeping over) I was sleeping on the couch with my face to the wall and the were both in my bed. At like 3AM I woke up to a soft tapping near my head. Like a pat-pat-pat noise. On the couch cushion. I came out of the haze of sleep sort of half wondering if I just heard a noise. It was silent. As I dismissed it and started to fall back to sleep when I heard it again but loud. I bounced and spun around and gasped, "Holy shit!!!" (Images flashed in my head during the spin of who I might be seeing in a split-second. Dude in trench coat and missing teeth? Colonial ghost with moldy face? Guy who looks just like me but evil and dirty?)

But it was just my nephew standing there. He asked me for a glass of water. I was like (quote unquote) 'Holy shit dude you scared the fuckin shit out of me!' Literally.

This has happened once or twice before when nephews have slept over. The middle of the night scare tactic. I've mentioned it to a few dads and apparently parents get the shit scared out of them all the time.  Kids staring at them in the bedroom. Standing by the bed. Sneaking into the room undetected and stuff. Face close to sleeping face whisper. The thing about it is-- I think kids know exactly what they're doing. I think they secretly want to scare us. I think it's a secret (or subliminal) powertrip for kids!

Like, my nephew must have snuck over to me quietly--- I would have woken up if he made noise along the way. The soft tapping on the couch might be a gentle way to wake me up, sure-- but is it a little too gentle? A little too quiet? Why not say my name out loud too? Or whisper it? Why the soft tap tap noise on the couch that's barely enough to wake me up? Sure, maybe he was nervous or scared to wake me too fast... maybe. Or didn't know how to go about it. But I'm thinking it's the other way around. I'm thinking they sometimes go for the scare--- because deep down inside--- it's sorta fun.

ok bye!
tOdd

PS. Roscoe was super excited to see me when I got home...

PPS. Here's a link to the Rocketship comicbook store and a link to The Walking Dead series...
 

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Warning: Some comments below may annoy you or make you roll your eyes...

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