Can't Read Giraffes

Last night there was bed time trauma.

Mark was reading Giraffes Can't Dance to Arthur. We've been reading this book to Arthur for about a year now, but last night we got to page three. Gerald the Giraffe runs in an illustration, trips and falls on his face. Mark added sound effects and said, "Oh no, is Gerald hurt?" Arthur's face turned beet red and he started crying. After Mark and I schooled our faces, we quickly turned to the end of the book where Gerald is having a better time.

"At least Arthur's not a sociopath," said Mark after Arthur had fallen asleep. Apparently we can't read The Bear Snores On because some of the animals are tucked into the bear's arm to nap and it looks a little like they've been decapitated (I guess -- at least that's the reason we can't read Cat's Colors, either).

"It's wild," said Mark. "He understands what death is."

"I don't know," I said. "He knows when someone is 'broken.'" (And for some reason he thinks it's "funny" when skateboarders wipe out.)

I suppose we won't teach him 'If I should die before I wake." Or he Monster Song. We will, however, start straight away on the song Sensitivity from Once Upon a Matress.