Shipwrecked

Well, it appears that we have discovered our next passion.  On one hand this is fantastic-it means that a single topic will occupy the boys' minds for the better part of the next two to four months, which allows mama more time to do the dishes, fold laundry without "help" and drink a second cup of coffee in peace.  On the other hand- the boys are REALLY pushing the limit with this one!  The solar system and the states and capitals were quite benign.  The presidents pushed the envelope just a bit, though we managed to get through that entire phase without them knowing what "assassinated" means so it all turned out to be okay.  But now here we are, totally and completely infatuated with shipwrecks.  Really?  Shipwrecks?!

I can't tell you when it started.  Awhile ago the boys became interested in the Titanic.  We read the Magic Tree House book and its fact tracker companion on the Titanic.  It lasted a few days then gave way to something else.  But about three or four weeks ago we saw a major resurgence and we haven't stopped talking about the Titanic since!  We build Titanics out of Duplo blocks.  We've colored hundreds of Titanics.  The couch has sunk at least 3 dozen times and their beds at least half as many
times.  We have scoured the Google machine for every photograph of the Titanic ever taken.  Jon found a little model that the boys built, painted, and sunk in the bathtub amidst dozen's of icebergs with an unmistakable resemblance to the shape of our ice cube maker. We even went so far as to carve the Titanic out of an over-sized cucumber.  But the boys haven't been infatuated with just the Titanic, they are also madly in love with the Carpathia, the nearest ship on that fateful night that managed to rescue over 700 people from the water.  At least we liked the positive aspects of the whole disaster as well- enough to insist on carving a Carpathia out of cucumber as well.

At the beginning we were able to avoid the fact that there weren't enough life boats aboard their beloved Titanic, leading to the watery demise of 1,502 people.  But then one night Caleb combined his love of sharks with his love of the Titanic and started asking where the sharks were when the ship sank.  "But where are the sharks in the water mama??  What about the sharks in the water there??"  He quickly figured out that the sharks didn't fly south like I had originally told him, thus putting two and two together that at least a few people may or may not have been consumed by said sharks.  Luckily the boys have no concept of death at this point, so we didn't have to go to deeply into that one.  And given their traumatic reaction to a fictional elephant nearly falling off a fictional collapsing bridge a few weeks ago, I was eternally grateful that he was not read to delve into death just yet- because if we could barely handle Horton Hears a Who, I'm pretty sure we aren't ready to handle the concept of death!

Anyways, just this past week we started talking about the boys birthday party.  We were pretty certain they wanted a Saturn V birthday cake, but no.  They are dead set (no pun intended) on a Titanic birthday cake.  We have done our best to talk them out of it, but they have their little hearts set on a Titanic cake.  Jon thinks it's okay, but I've got to admit I'm just a bit reserved about celebrating one of the world's greatest seafaring disasters at a fourth birthday party!!!  I can't help but think that at the very least its a bit morbid, if not downright disrespectful.  We at least agreed not to have an iceberg obstacle course and I'm 79% certain I've talked Jon out of turning the canoe into the Titanic for the kids to play in, so really it'll just be the cake. I shouldn't really be surprised, but every time they remind us that they need a Titanic cake, I've still got to rest my head in my hands and think to myself, "Really?  Have we completely lost sight of normal?!"

And of course it was only just a matter of time before the boys realized that the Titanic was not the only grand ship to plunge to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean.  When Jon suggested- because Jon loves to pour fuel on a fire, especially when he knows he gets to leave me to tend to the flames- that we look up the Lusitania, the boys were all over it.  So we read and read and read.  We Googled pictures and watched videos.  We built Lusitanias, we drew Lusitanias.  We launched torpedos at the couch and sunk Lusitanias.  We asked questions about torpedos- what they are and why the German's aimed them at ships full of people- questions I was clearly not prepared to answer.  Even if kids did come with a manual, I'm pretty sure that guides on such conversations would not be included.  Thankfully, the next ship we researched- the Britannic- had a much greater survival rate. The boys loved discovering that the Britannic was one of the Titanic's two sister ships- there were a total of three grand ocean liners built by the White Star Line in the early 1910's.  Though I can't help but think that maybe the White Star Line wasn't nearly as great at building ships as they were thought to have been being that two of the three ended up at the bottom of the Atlantic within 4 years!

So here we go on another adventure.  This one should lead us to the bottom of oceans the world over and to the bottoms of the five lakes we are surrounded by- luckily for us the Great Lakes are known for their great shipwrecks so we should have plenty of material to keep our imaginations running full steam ahead.  And don't forget to check back with us in a few weeks to see if the Titanic birthday cake turns out any better than the actual voyage itself :)  Iceberg- right ahead!