Kids and Dinosaurs

DINOSAUR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why do kids love dinosaurs? One theory is that kids love great big things that can eat Daddy. This has not been scientifically supported, but seems likely, provided, of course, that the dinosaurs are on the kids' team. Other theories include: they're monsters, but they're not aliens; they're dangerous, but they're not around anymore; they're as big as houses and you can see them coming.

Miss Pandora is only four, so she has a limited acquaintance with dinosaurs, although her visit to Questacon in Canberra last year introduced her to some very realistic life-sized versions. At her recent Fourth Birthday Party (to which she invited every person who crossed her path in the week before) she made the acquaintance of a cake-sized version. Judging by the way she wielded the cake-cutting knife and carefully sliced into the tail of the green Tyrannosaurus Rex, dinosaurs hold little fear for her. Oh, yes - of course - they are, after all, extinct.

In addition to the dinosaur cake, The Party of the Year also included a grove of carnivores and  - naturally sited a distance away at the other end of the picnic table - a grove of herbivores. There were also dinosaur cookies, dinosaur decorations and a large dinosaur head, weirdly realistic-looking though made entirely of watermelon and fruit.

Amongst the party gifts was a blow-up dinosaur, and once someone with sufficient hot air had been found to inflate it, it became the hit of the party. Miss Pandora was particularly impressed that she could lift and carry it - "Look! I am so stwong I can carry a dinosaur!" Ah, yes - they are, after all, extinct. She named him "Glassy". When asked why he was called Glassy she replied "Because I want him to be called Glassy!" It's my party and I'll do what I wanna...

Such superhuman strength!

Having cut, eaten and carried dinosaurs, and indeed worn one on her T-shirt, I think we can make an educated guess as to why Miss Pandora likes dinosaurs: they are big, tough, scary, noisy, dangerous - and extinct. It's a thrill to be able to dominate something like that.

Happy 4th Birthday beautiful Pan! June 1, 2011

***With congratulations to Jess for the extraordinary party food***

FOUR today!