What Are You Watching, Mama?

This morning while Jude and I ate our breakfast, we watched an episode of Angel (Season 4, Episode 2). “Are we watching Angel, Mama?” Jude asks, even though he has seen several episodes. I tell him “Yes, we are.” He nods his head. “I like Angel.” I wrestled with the decision of whether to let him enter the Buffy/Angel universe. In the end, I decided that it was a good chance for life lessons. Whenever we watch, I make sure to shield Jude from overt violence, though even when he sees people shoving one another on screen, he looks at me and says “We never do that.” I tell him that he is right, that we never do that. He also likes being able to differentiate between “good guys” and “bad guys.” Another good lesson to teach: you can’t always tell good guys from bad guys based on appearance. Sure, there are several large, ugly heavily made-up demon “bad guys,” but Lorne (a personal favorite) is a demon good guy. Important lesson to learn. More important: sometimes people can’t be broken down into easy good/bad categories, but that lesson can wait until he is a bit older. And while lessons are important, there is a side of me that is just in it for the on-the-couch cuddling that we sometimes do in the early morning hours, since later in the day it is impossible to get him to stand still long enough for even a quick hug.
Jude is showing more of an interest in movies. We have developed a weekly ritual where we go to the library and rent movies. He tends to like Bob the Builder and Thomas the Train the best, though I think it is the ritual and the freedom of choice he likes even more than the shows themselves. More often then not, when he decides he wants to watch a movie he will request Shrek. Sometimes I try to steer him toward Shrek 2, but he is not fooled. He knows that he likes and will hold up the Shrek box and say “No, Mama, I want to watch this one.”
Last non-Shrek-movie watched was a Cary Grant film, Suspicion. As I am a fan of Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock, I thought it was a pretty good film. Jude doesn’t seem to care for Grant as much as I do.
Movie before last, though was a documentary entitled Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns. A fun, interesting insight into They Might Be Giants. I dig them and their quirkiness, so it was good to learn more about them. Though I am not a rabid fan, I do have a few of their albums and really like the way they can combine upbeat tunes with really sad, thought-provoking lyrics. Or the way some of the songs are just very silly and fun.
Most of all, though, Jude, I am watching you, my baby who is no longer my baby, my heart so full when I look at you, especially when you don’t notice me watching.