Picket Fence Post

Okay, so I get dragged to see dreck like The Squeakquel and other such fare on occasion with the Picket Fence Post children. But when the movies aimed at my kids seem like they’ll be decent, well, I’m simply thrilled.

I recently came across the preview for the third installment of the Toy Story series, which has been forever in the works. My eldest two kids fell in love with Toy Story years ago. The Eldest Boy (now 11) and The Youngest Boy dressed as Buzz Lightyear for several Halloweens, while The Girl went as Jessie the Cowgirl one year. We owned a couple of Buzz Lightyears, two Woodys, two Jessies and one Bullseye the horse.

And while my 11 year olds may protest that they’re too old to see Toy Story 3, there’s a chance that my 8-year-old will want to see this with me. (And I’d actually like to see it too.) In the preview, we learn that Andy is *sniff* going to college and has to figure out what to do with all his toys. It looks like most of the crew is being donated to some sort of pre-school.

Then there’s the live action movie that’s based on the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. The preview for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the movie made my kids laugh and I have feeling that, after this movie comes out, we’re going to be hearing a lot more about “The Cheese Touch.”

A few weeks ago I mentioned here in this space that the three Picket Fence Post kids were eagerly awaiting the fourth installment of Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. From the moment the book arrived at the house, it was in such high demand and everyone wanted to be the first to read it that I decided to do the democratic thing and read it aloud to the three kids over the course of a weekend.

They were so jazzed after we finished reading the fourth book about the Wimpy Kid’s summer vacation that the four of us — me, my twin 11-year-olds and my 8-year-old — e-mailed questions to Kinney about his book and his best selling series, featuring Wimpy Kid in chief, Greg Heffley. The Q&A is below:

Meredith O’Brien, Picket Fence Post: Your portrayal of Greg’s summer, where everything seemed to go wrong — his family’s adoption of a dog wasn’t what Greg hoped it would be, his trip away with Rowley’s family went awry, his “landscaping business” failed and his mother tried to make him read books in which Greg had no interest — had my kids simultaneously laughing and feeling badly for Greg. What were your childhood summers like? Anything like Greg’s?

Jeff Kinney, author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days: I think Greg’s childhood summer was much worse than any of mine. Like Greg, my friend and I tried to start a landscaping business, but my grandmother wouldn’t give me a recommendation (due to poor service on my part), and so we never got past the starting gate. But I think most kids can relate to Greg who has grand plans for his summer that didn’t pan out.

O’Brien: Here’s a question from my 8-year-old son, “When you were Greg Heffley’s age, were you like him?”

Kinney: I was like Greg in some ways. I could be immature and self-centered, but really, I was a normal kid. I think Greg has very exaggerated faults. I wasn’t perfect, but I wasn’t as flawed as Greg.

O’Brien: Here’s a question from my 11-year-old son, “Where did you get the funny ideas for your books?”

Kinney: I spent a lot of time thinking and remembering funny things I’ve seen or heard. I try to make sure my ideas are realistic, because I think that’s what makes Greg’s story relatable. When I’m writing, I spend every night sitting and thinking with a blanket over my head, trying to come up with a good idea. Most of the time, I fall asleep.

O’Brien: A question from my 11-year-old daughter, “Which one is your favorite Diary of a Wimpy Kid book? Why?

Kinney: I think I’ll always have a soft spot for the first book, since I didn’t have any success in cartooning before it was published.

O’Brien: Another from my daughter, “Who is your favorite character in Dog Days?

Kinney: I think Rowley will always be my favorite character. He’s a good kid and he’s not tainted the same way Greg is.

O’Brien: Another from my 11-year-old son, “Can you give us a preview of the next book?”

Kinney:  Sure . . . it will be about Greg and Rowley’s friendship, and whether or not it can be salvaged as they start to grow apart.

We *knock on wood* seem to be a reasonably healthy family. We eat relatively healthy meals, or at least I offer the kids an array of healthy foods if you go by an entire week’s worth of meals (though they don’t always eat the well rounded fare). The kids have daily vitamins, drink milk and have lots of fresh fruit. They go to their regular well kid and dentist appointments. They’re active and play on sports teams. So why the heck does it seem like the twin 11-year-olds and the 8-year-old are sick all the time?

Within the past week, all three of the Picket Fence Post kids have been home sick from school with some viral/cold thingie. (Throw in two half days that each of the kids’ schools had last week, and I realized that I haven’t been freed from daytime child care responsibilities in over a week. Plus, they don’t have school on Monday. It’s difficult to work from home under such conditions.) The viral/cold thingie, which the nurse at the pediatrician’s office said I should simply allow to run its course, has mildly affected  The Spouse and I, though it didn’t stop us from seeing U2 in concert on Monday night in Foxborough, hip music fans are we, amidst a sea of Baby Boomer and GenXer concert goers out on a school night.

I’ve grown tired of this viral/cold thingie. I want this sick business to end. Pronto.

In other family melodrama . . .

. . . While she’s been recovering from her viral/cold thingie, The Girl gobbled up Twilight, the vampire novel that’s been so popular with the tween- and teenaged populace. (She came home from soccer practice last week and told me she felt left out because “everybody” on the team had already read it, everyone but her. Plus they all have cell phones, she added, to which I snorted with laughter.) It took her one day to plow through Twilight, seeing as though she was home sick from school and did nothing but read. At around lunchtime today, The Girl appeared in the kitchen to inform me that she HAD to have the next book in the series, New Moon. And given that she’s very excited for reading material and I adore that she’s reading, I’m going to oblige her.

Speaking of reading, The Youngest Boy (who’s not a fan of reading and has to be heavily lobbied to crack open a book) told me yesterday that he “loves” (he actually used the word “loves”) reading now that he’s able to read Diary of a Wimpy Kid in school. Said he “can’t put the book down.” I almost shouted with joy.

So when the new installment of the Wimpy Kid books, Diary of a Wimpy Kid Dog Days comes out on October 12, I’m going to make a big deal out of its release in our house, hoping to cultivate and nurture his budding excitement about reading. Can’t hurt.

Image credit: Stephenie Meyer web site.

The 10-year-old Eldest Boy got into the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books by Jeff Kinney a while ago. And, to put it mildly, he’s smitten.

For the uninitiated, the books are “diaries” of a geeky middle school boy, where the text is printed on faux-lined paper, interspersed with juvenile-looking stick figure illustrations. The books are snarky, slightly subversive, anti-authority and, at times, laugh out loud funny.

My fourth grade son so adores this series — the most recent installment was published in January — that he wanted to share the books with me, hoping to hook me the way he hooked me on the Harry Potter series last year. The Eldest Boy read aloud the latest book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, to me over the course of the past two weeks. At first, it was just him and me, with me being reduced to hysterics upon hearing that the father of the main character Greg, used to warn his son not to get out of bed when he was little, because he might run into children’s author Shel Silverstein in the darkened hallway. (When Greg was a boy, he used to find Silverstein’s photo on the back of his books frightenting, so his father took advantage of this fear in order to keep the kid in bed. . . you have to read it in context. ‘Tis funny.)

But when The Youngest Boy and The Girl heard me laughing until my gut hurt in their brother’s room, they figured they were missing out, so they horned in on The Eldest Boy’s nightly readings. He wound up doing his dramatic readings for an audience of three. And did quite a good job, I might add.

This week, The Eldest Boy is planning on commencing his reading of the second book in the series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. I’m eagerly anticipating more belly laughs, as are his siblings, who kind of like listening to their brother read aloud.

Image credit: Amazon.com.