Advertising, watch what you say!

We've really tried to shield Maisie from commercialism and advertising and for the most part I think that we've done a really good job. We did not expose Maisie to television, videos or movies until she was 26 months old. The few times that we were at some one's home and the television happened to be on, Maisie showed no interest in it and at our home when Maisie was awake the television was off. Now we allow very limited television and she does have her favorite shows, Thomas & Friends, Sesame Street, Hi-5, Paz and Blue Planet but they're all on our DVR so she never sees commercials. She knows of a few other characters such as Dora and Barney from her pull-ups and a book but she doesn't know that there are shows with those characters. In addition, we don't eat at fast food restaurants so places like  McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, KFC or Taco Bell mean nothing to Maisie as she doesn't know what they are, to her they're just buildings that we pass every day.

I'm really proud that we have an almost three year-old who doesn't know or recognize a single fast-food sign or jingle and when we pass through the toy department she doesn't ask for any of the toys because she doesn't know every cartoon or television character. I also think it's really cool that when we go to the aquarium she names and signs dozens of the fish and it's just cute as can be when she asks (all the time, over and over) to watch periphylla slowly (in slow motion) and then says 'bioluminescent' as it lights up the screen.

Because we have shielded Maisie in all the ways listed above, our conversation in the car Wednesday morning almost had me peeing in my pants from laughing so hard. Here's the situation, on each of our trips to and from camp we pass though an intersection where there's a Chick-fil-A that has recently undergone a renovation. When they re-opened they advertised by putting on the roof, a giant blow-up cow holding a sign that says "Eat mor chikin." So one day last week Maisie pointed at the cow and said "see the 'E' Mama, see the 'E'!" So I told her that the cow was holding a sign that said "eat more chicken" and I continued driving home. Well Wednesday morning we were driving to camp and Maisie points to the cow and this was the conversation.

Maisie: Look Mama, the cow. See the cow Mama!
Me: I see the cow Maisie.
Maisie: Mama, Mama, what does the cow say Mama?
Me: Cows say moooooooo. (doing my best cow impersonation)
Maisie: No Mummy not moo, cows say eat more chicken!

Yep, got to watch what I say around that girl as she remembers everything!

We hope that everyone is having a nice July 4th. We are enjoying a quiet, relaxing day at home together, doing a little swimming and as you can see from the pictures, a little painting. Maisie had a blast painting and being painted, becoming our little red, white and blue girl. Happy Independence Day everyone.