An animated irony

I'll be 40 years old in May and I'm OK with that. Most of my friends are older than me, my wife is 41, age is just a number. In fact, in many ways I am still very child like. A big facet of this is that I love animation.

I'm not so much a Loony Toons or Tom & Jerry kind of fan, I did grow past that years ago. But people who really know me know that I would rather sit and watch Toy Story than Child's Play. In high school I watched GI Joe, much to my girlfriend's dismay. In college Tina and I were the only two people in the theater to see The Little Mermaid.

But the irony of my enjoyment for animated films is that my daughter has a condition called Optic Nerve Hypoplasia. This condition leaves her visually impaired and mentally delayed as well as extremely sensitive to sound. Needless to say, she doesn't like the busy world of animation, particularly "Finding Nemo." And one of the big things I was looking forward to when I found out I was going to be a father was watching Disney and Pixar movies with my child.

But, when life gives you lemons you should make some lemonade and break out some vodka too. Amanda does have some movies that she likes: Cheaper By The Dozen and it's sequel are top of the list, Yours, Mine and Ours, The Sandlot I, II, and III, Madeline, and finally a little animation with Mary Poppins.

And then there is the Peanuts. The Charlie Brown Cartoons do not attempt to be three dimensional and the conversations are slow enough that she can follow by herself. We have every one on DVD and I have loaded even more onto my I-pods.

And finally there is the fact that she only watches these movies when she is ready for bed. She seldom sees the end of a movie but the 22 minute Peanuts really help her unwind.

My only problem is I have a copy of Wall-E that I borrowed from my nephew more than three months ago and I just can't seem to find the time to myself to watch it.