Sometimes wishes need helpers

"Mamma, what's 'prophetic' mean?" asked Bunny yesterday.

She heard it in a movie, but I love that she is a word freak. I remember being royally pissed off when my older (12-year-old) cousin told me (7-years-old) that I "wasn't allowed to use a word unless I knew what it meant." I tattled on him to my mom who was driving us home at the time and she replied, "He's right." Boy, that was a grumpy ride home for second-grade-me.

But he was right and I encourage the asking of questions in my house.

"It means that you think or know that something might come true." I tried to put it into terms that Bunny would understand.

Bunny thought about it for a second."You mean like wishes?"

"Yes, like wishes."

"But wishes don't come true," she stated. "Wishes are not prophetic."

At that moment I wondered why these conversations always seem to happen in a car. I suppose there is something non-threatening about making these declarations to the back of an adult's head rather than to her face.

I decided to tread lightly.

"What do you mean 'wishes' don't come true?" I asked (slightly horrified).

So Bunny explained that on March 2, she made a wish and it didn't come true. She made it, wished hard, didn't tell anybody, and waited.

This is the girl who for three nights after her tooth fell out (and was magically exchanged for a new electric toothbrush, floss, and a pack of sugarless gum) left note after note under her pillow. A sort of on-going conversation with her Tooth Fairy pen pal, if you will. Did we know about it? No. Because why would we need to know about it? Tooth fairies know when kids need them, not adults.

J. discovered her early one morning sitting at the kitchen table with unopened note #3 next to her penning note #4 to the fairy. Talk about a heart-shattering experience. Needless to say, we had to have a gentle talk about the Tooth Fairy being very busy with the kids who left actual teeth under their pillow along with their notes. And that she had had her chance (twice) and more chances would come again.

I knew I had to ask her, "What did you wish for?"

"I don't want to tell you or it won't come true."

How to handle. How to handle.

"Well, Bunny. Sometimes wishes need helpers. Sometimes the universe needs to know your wish to help make it come true. Sometimes you need to tell the trees and the earth and sky and the solar system. Why don't you try it now and we'll see what happens?"

She hesitated. I looked in my rear-view mirror and could see her embarrassed smile, chin resting on her shoulder."

"I wish...I wish..."

I held my breath. How could I have not known her wish? How she must have watched each day tick by with her secret wish still not coming to fruition. I felt awful.

"I wish...for a webkinz. My friend at school has one and it's really cute. Kind of like a stuffed animal, but with pokier hair. That's what I wished for on March 2."

Her wish spilled forth with all the pent-up energy and enthusiasm of someone who had waited patiently for over a month for it to be fulfilled.

You know,

I have dreaded the day she would say that word to me for many reasons. I suppose it's inevitable and it could be worse—she could have wished for a Bratz doll or tickets to a Wiggles concert. Webkinz. If I get one for her, I know this is going to be the beginning of a long, expensive, annoying hobby. And she has a birthday coming up.

Yes, sometimes wishes need helpers, but sometimes those helpers should learn to keep their big mouths shut.

So...

Uh...

What's the best "starter Webkinz?" Because I know nothing. (And I used to like it that way.)

Comments

[Dawn]

oooh, Webkinz...a slippery slope...maybe try the pig...it comes with a fortune telling ball! Ha ha! Although, I think, if I remember correctly, the tiger may come with his own car...hmmm...

My daughter loooves Webkinz, and while the computer part of it was an obsession for awhile, now she just loves to collect the animals themselves versus playing with them online.

[Stefania/CityMama]

I can't even begin to wrap my head around how you play with these things online. I'm not a big gamer/virtual reality-type person.

[karen]

hey! what's so bad about Wiggles tickets? those guys aren't so bad with a few margaritatinis...

[lawschoolmom]

My daughter received the pink poodle as a birthday gift and she loves that darn thing! It also comes with its own car.

[Velma]

Ah, young Luke - let me be your Yoda! The best WK to get is whichever one the the "WK of the month," because you get extra gifts when you log it in on-line. I have to say, I don't mind the WebKinz at all. They are a simple gift, easy for birthdays, and the web site is innocuous compared to many.

(Pepper has now informed me that while the Pink Poodle was April's WK of the Month, for May it will be the "regular" Panda.)

[dgm]

I dreaded Webkinz, too. Turns out my kids are more interested in having the stuffed animal and not so much in the online stuff. Most of the time they forget the computer angle is even available to them because they are busy with other things. So you might get lucky.

It is soooooo cute how my 5 y.o. boy loves his two Webkinz with all his heart. He talks to them, tells them about his day, asks them questions about what they like, and of course embraces them tightly all night long.

[Teresa]

My daughter received the pink poodle and black cat for Christmas and she loves them. She sleeps with the animals each night and takes turns with her brothers playing the online site. Honestly, I love sitting back and watching all three of them work on one of the word games together.

I don't really think there's a good "starter" pet. I would just go with her favorite animal or just a really cute one. She will receive one free year of the web service starting the day you register the pet online. My kids love the site and I've really come to support it. You have to play games in order to earn money to buy food, clothes, furniture, etc for your pet. Some of the games though are great. There's one that teaches typing, one that works on math, my kids are hooked on a game in which you have to create words out of a block of letters, etc.

Don't tell anyone, but I sign in and play too when the kids are off playing outside.

[foodmomiac]

Webkinz are fun. You can get a lil' webkinz which are a few bucks cheaper but have all of the same benefits. In the end, you should just get whatever animal she loves the best. (And I, too, have been known to play by myself after she is in bed - I love the word game. It's like Boggle, but harder.)

[Nancy]

What foodmomiac said -- Mimi has one of the Lil' Webkinz (a white kitty) and what's nice is it's just a bit cheaper than the regular ones, but you can still do all the stuff online with it. I resisted Webkinz for a long time too, but they're not so bad. Better than Bratz for sure.

[Stefania/CityMama]

Okay, this is making me feel a little bit better about the whole deal. I know I should reserve judgment, until I try it out.

/sigh

[cat]

Cripes, that is ALL my brother's kids wanted for Christmas. And all of the "cool" ones were sold out. You have my sympathy.

But what a cool kid you have.

[De in D.C.]

My second grader had been begging for one for months because all of his friends have them. And I will say, that for a boy, he does love his stuffed animals. So, we let him use his own allowance money to buy the animal (he decided on a dalmatian) and we created an online account on the site. He's only allowed to play while there is a grownup physically in the office with him. I was an online moderator on kids/teens websites for over 8 years. Believe me, I've seen it all and know how easy it is to prey on kids. He is not going online by himself - EVER.

I will echo the other comments though. The site seems well constructed and is fun, but can be handled in small doses (ie - it doesn't take an hour to play a game so you don't to quit in the middle). The code you get with the stuffed animal is good for one year from registering, so if you register one in April and another in May, your account will expire the following May. (The one year time per animal is not cumulative.)

[Erica]

My Madigan just got her first Webkinz this weekend. I dodged that bullet WAY longer than I should have been able to get away with. (Because I'm evil and plus I don't suffer commercialism gladly.)

Also, we got it for free. Justice for Girls is giving them away with a $10 purchase. On the tag there is a code tat you enter on the website to register your "adoption." I will say that the site is ALL ABOUT safety, keeping your password private, creating a username that doesn't share your neme, etc... I was mildly soothed.

Justice is a cutsie girlie store (they have one in Westgate, in Saratoga). But you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Webkinz these days.

Good luck. I hope you have fun.

[LizP]

Seeing the Wiggles is easier ... it's over in an hour and a half and all you have to do is fork out an extra $15 for that stupid red car on a light wand. Not that I would know anything about taking a freaked out 2 1/2 year old boy to the Wiggles or anything.

[mrs. blogoway]

My daughter has loved her webkinz. I was hesitant to let her "play" on the internet but ALL the other kids are doing it (LOL. Horrible argument). I have to say though, for the cost of the toy, it creates HOURS of enjoyment for them and they ARE cute.

[yourmamma]

Guess I'm going to Kahala Mall today. Wishes do come true.

[mothergoosemouse]

I just had to laugh about having these sorts of conversations in the car, because the same is true here.

And I echo the others - Webkinz aren't so bad. Then again, my kid plays World of Warcraft too.

[Stefania/CityMama]

Update: Tata is sending 3 Webkinz all the way from Hawaii. They should arrive tomorrow.

Grandmas make wishes come true.

[Kellie]

My older DD (8) just got one for her birthday, as well as a few that are the Littlest Pet Shop types (online games). She's yet to go online with any of them, prefering to have the stuffed animal (and I think also, to *have* them, as her friends do). I could think of worse things. (Wiggles concerts are not that bad =)

At least I knew she wanted them. Last year, I was so surprised at her birthday party, when she got her first Littlest Pet Shops and you would have thought a fairy granted her wishes. I'd had no idea she even knew what they were - she'd certainly never pointed them out at Target, said any of her friends had them, or in any way mentioned them. I felt badly for not even knowing her heart's desire.

[karen]

Tatas are the real fairy godmothers...