Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Toddler Peer-Pressure And A Birthday Party From The Viewpoint Of A 2-year Old

We went to yet another kid’s birthday party over the weekend, but this time was a little different because my daughter insisted on bringing her Fisher-Price toy camera along. You know, the one Santa gave her for Christmas and was interested in for about a week and then decided it wasn’t worthy of attention anymore because she thought a cheap Happy Meal toy was much more appealing…

Figure 1: Happy Meal Toy
(Uh, what is it and what does it do? Oh yeah, make annoying noises...)

Well, I’m not sure what caused this sudden interest of picture taking again but it seemed as if she wanted to take the camera everywhere. To the store, park, pool, bathroom (while I was using it), etc.
The wife and I suspect that she saw one of the neighborhood kids or somebody on TV using a camera. It’s strange, if an older kid or character does something – she’ll want to do it too. Except, of course, pooping on the potty.

Her giving into peer-pressure scares me. For instance if Elmo told her to steal my credit card, passport, social security number, kidney, and send them to him she would do it in a heartbeat. By the way, that’s exactly why I sleep with the door locked at night.

Anyhow, she wandered around the party with the camera taking pictures for about an hour or two until she filled the 1,300 picture capacity memory card.

A few birthday pictures with added titles:

" Child with Long Mysterious Shadow"

"Sand detail and its shoes"

"Untitled, with clouds and bars"

"Rocking Horse with No Friend to Share Ice Cream With"

"The Man Imposing His Rules on the Little People"

"The Unknown Climber"

I knew she was done when she walked up to me while I was eating my Jell-O and cake, handed me the camera, and showed me her index finger saying “Look dad-DEE!... Booger.”

And then she wiped it on my pants and ran away.

36 comments:

Awesome Mom said...

Fun pictures! I get all kinds of stuff wiped on me. One of the hazards of being a parent. When they have colds I often look like I have been run over by a herd of slugs.

Nicole P said...

Oh shoot, your last sentence cracked me up. My youngest does that kind of stuff all the time.

SciFi Dad said...

Those are actually pretty decent images. How does the thing shoot with indoor light? (Also, how is the shutter release time?)

I ask because we've got the Little Tikes digicam, and I can't get as crisp images with it, let alone my kid. But we haven't had much full sun weather to test it outside.

Whirlwind said...

We had that same happy meal toy in triplicate. It was highly annoying. We also wondered WTF it was.

My daughter had that same camera, but the pictures weren't nearly as good and it ate batteries and finally shit the bed after 6 months. But we got it when they first came out, so I suspect they improved them since then.

Jenster said...

Those are some seriously great pictures! I see a photography future for her, sans the boogers.

Lisa said...

She's got a pretty good eye there Tony. I'm impressed!

Takeyce said...

Love it..she's got an eye!! So funny! Gald I stumbled acorss your blog. you've been bookmarked!

Woman in a Window said...

Your timing is great, or maybe it's not yours and it's your daughter's timing. But HA, boogers. Oh, boogers and poop. I'm an easy laugh. However, I am going to ban Elmo (who I can't stand anyway) and keep a close watch on my kidney.

Coal Miner's Granddaughter said...

I'm thinkin' you just got some artwork for your living room. Seriously. And the booger? Just icing on the cake. Hell, put that in a display case along with her first tooth and you're set, baby!

Beck said...

At least she WARNS you about boogers. My kids just rub them quietly on me and wander off. Ick.

Bruce Johnson said...

Nothing says "love" more than a booger on the pants.....how sweet.

Anonymous said...

I just bought this camera for my nephew for his birthday.

I don't think he has quite the eye your daughter does.

But if he wipes his snot on my pants there will be hell to pay.

Julie said...

Just be happy they are digital, and you don't have to pay to have them developed.

We have thousands of photos of blurry zoo animals, the left ear of some random child, the tips of shoes -- apparently my children thought cameras did not work when the camera is pointed down.

We still have thousands of bad photos taken by my kids, but at least now they are only taking up space on my huge external hard drive...

(My 18 year old son takes awesome amazing photos now.)

kittenpie said...

Niiiice. I can't get mine to stop picking her nose either, and now she thinks it's hilarious. Oy.

foop said...

Amazing how the right title can turn anything into a work of art.

The Whitney is on the phone... they're looking into an exhibition on rocking horse zeitgeist.

Dad Stuff said...

She is a very artistic photographer.
She should send some of them to Elmo. Maybe they will get on his 'camera' show.

Amber said...

Maybe you should wipe one of your grown up man size boogers on her. I think she would get the point. If that works, maybe you should poop your pants and let her clean it up, then she might get a little more serious about going poop in the potty. I just realized...I am going to be an awesome mom someday!

Jeremy said...

I hated those McDonald's toys with the same "beep-boop-beep-doodle-doo" noises they made over and over.

I think I we "lost" ours.

Creative-Type Dad said...

Scarlett Wanna Be -- Yes you will!

And for the record, I would love it if I could poop in my pants and somebody else would clean it up.
I hear celebrities get that type of treatment all the time.

foop -- Absolutely! A good title is half the art.

kittenpie -- When I looked at my pants, the booger was heart shaped...

beck --I can just imagine what the back of your shirt looks like...

Coal Miner's -- I like that!
So 15 years from now when her prom date comes to the house, I can say "first tooth", "first poop", "first booger"...

The pictures aren't the best. They look OK shrunk down, but at 100% they look really grainy.

Whirlwind -- They do the job of keeping her occupied. And besides, they look a little artsy anyway.

It has a weak indoor flash. I think the spec is 3 feet.

SciFi Dad --It does pretty well when she takes a picture of a wall.

Awesome Mom --- Sounds like they just blow their nose on you....

I guess that's a good way to save money on tissue.

Sarah said...

Honestly, these are fantastic pictures. My kids' photos either featured the floor (my daughter) or his pee pee (my boy - I'm so proud).

Anonymous said...

Chokin' on a ham sandwich here, man. Hysterical.

Beverly said...

I love those photos! I wanna get me a few of those cameras.

painted maypole said...

she didn't take a picture of the booger? she has much to learn

Anonymous said...

Her pictures are amazing! My kid is going to a princess party this weekend and I'm really hoping it doesn't end in boogers.

Maureen said...

Aw, you're not just a Dad, you're KLEENEX!

Congrats.

BTW, great photos from a short POV.

Geekgrl64 said...

Love the photos, especially their titles. They just add to the artistry of the photos!

Anonymous said...

My son is only 7 months old, so I am his virtual kleenex too. I look forward to him voluntarily showing me his boogies... I think.

www.j-kosblog.blogspot.com

Kristen said...

Great photos...my son has taken some with a similar perspective. He got a less than flattering shot of my nostrils recently...still, it was photographic genius on his part.

Creative-Type Dad said...

painted maypole -- No picts of boogers. At least not that I'm aware of.

There were a lot of fuzzy pictures, I wouldn't doubt it if she tried.

Amrita said...

the gal 's a photographer in the making. goody good.

The Real Mother Hen said...

AHHHHH!
Maybe your daughter is really Japanese, that's where she gets her photo-taking gene from!
(Time to check with your wife, dude)

wayabetty said...

Is she the future "Ansel Adam", I think that's how his name is spelled? Very artsy!!

As for the booger thing, did she roll it? I have to write a post about that soon.

Creative-Type Dad said...

wayabetty -- Roll it?! God no!!! What do your kids smoke it?

I just grossed myself out...

The Real Mother Hen -- I never thought about that? I better check with the wife on that, because now I'm getting a little angry...

Anonymous said...

Wow! the photographer in the amazing.

I love the post.

http://bookshelf.thevizier.com/

ng2000 said...

Valuable resource of peer pressure news summaries: http://ng2000.com/ng2000bb/YaBB.pl?num=1221458001

Anonymous said...

Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!