Oscars With Kids

One of the beautiful things about parenting is sharing your passions with your children. All of a Kind Family books. Oysters. Wilco. Kibitzing at the Oscars.

M and E took to the Oscars like ducks to water--there’s no doubt that they share my genetic material (and it must be genetic because my sister and I have watched the Oscars over the phone together for years). We put the E! pre-Oscar show on mute because Star Jones Reynolds was way too annoying (my print fixation shows--I could tell you all about her wedding, but I’d never actually seen her on television). Then I lectured the girls on movie star trivia: when Annette Bening was 8 ½ months pregnant at the Oscars; how Jake Gyllenhaal starred in Aunt M’s friend’s movie and his sister Maggie is a movie star too; the difference between Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet.

We agreed that Oprah looked haggard and M decided that Penelope Cruz was Barbie. We thoughtfully critiqued fashion choices (thumbs up for Kate Winslet’s dress, thumbs down for Cate Blanchett’s sash) and roundly condemned too-thin actresses and the camera’s boob fixation.

Once the actual Oscars began, M and E loved Charlie Chaplin playing hackysack with Shrek, though, alas, they found Chris Rock’s monologue boring (S and I were in stitches). Still, they took comfort in the fact that Jamie Foxx’s daughter Miranda in the front row also seemed bored (Miranda was a big hit: “she has a white headband!” crowed E). We let them stay up for two awards, and then they went willingly to bed and were asleep in moments. I only hope that when they’re old enough to stay awake for the whole thing, they’ll still think watching the Oscars with Mom is big fun.

I don’t have anything to say about Million Dollar Baby--didn’t see it and don’t really want to. But in case you’re curious, I liked Kirsten Dunst’s dress, I’m a sucker for Mike Myers quoting Andre Bazin, I thought Imelda Staunton was robbed, I knew they’d bring on Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx moved me, Hilary Swank didn’t, I’m not sure Dustin Hoffman could have been any more disaffected, and Johnny Carson and Miss Piggy were my favorite couple.

[Flu update: The Tamiflu has triumphed and E is fine after only three days of illness. M is on her seventh day, but the fever is almost gone. By yesterday morning she had progressed from miserable to sad and bored (which, as my mother-in-law pointed out, is indeed progress), and by evening she was actually laughing. I escaped for four hours in the afternoon which was nice, but it broke my mom/nurse zen state and I have no patience left, so it’s a good thing that the end of this seems to be in sight.]