Pickle Princess: Surgery

Once upon a time in the Cucumber Kingdom, there was the Pickle Princess. She had a little brother named Sweet Baby Gherkin, a mother and father who loved her very much, and a cat named Lucy. 

One day, the Pickle King and Queen discussed some things they had noticed about the Pickle Princess. She had been having trouble sleeping through the night, drooling through the day, and sounding congested often. They took her to a special ENT doctor who looked at her ears, nose, and throat, then sent her to get a special picture - an x-ray! When she went to get the picture, she stood right where she was told and looked where the technician said to look and held very still, and soon she was done! The Pickle Royals went home to await the results.

After a few weeks, they had a follow-up appointment where the doctor recommended having the Pickle Princess's adenoids removed. After discussion, they booked the surgery. The Pickle Princess had several pre-op appointments, and after the last appointment the Pickle Queen took the Pickle Princess to a store to pick out a surgery friend. The Pickle Princess selected a red dinosaur with a yellow spot and named him Spot. Spot hid away until the day of the surgery. 

The day before her surgery, the Pickle Princess picked out a comfy outfit to wear then went to bed. The morning of the surgery, she got up and got dressed and did her hair. She did not eat or drink anything*, just like the doctor instructed. She went to the Pickle Royal Carriage and found Spot waiting for her in her seat! The Pickle Queen went with her to the surgery center and they signed in. They sat down to wait, with coloring books and quiet games that they had packed for this wait time.
* The Pickle Queen had a quick breakfast before the Princess awoke, and prepped a tea for the road.

Eventually, they were called back to Surgery Prep. The Pickle Princess changed into a surgery gown and wore a hair net. She had her vitals checked as she waited on a special bed with wheels. The Pickle Queen wore a special garment over her clothes called a bunny suit! Soon, they rolled the Pickle Princess on her bed into the Surgery Room. She scooted over to the surgery bed from her bed with wheels and laid down. The surgeon placed a mask* on her face and she smelled a sweet scent then fell asleep, hugging her surgery friend and holding her mom's hand. The Pickle Queen went back to the waiting room to crochet fish while she waited. 
*Some surgery centers use knock-out gas before inserting any needles, so the kid won't feel a pinch! Also, if you are pregnant, they advise against being in the room when the gas dispenses (out of an abundance of caution).

After less than an hour, the Pickle Queen was called back to the Recovery Room. There was the Pickle Princess, crying in a chair. Waking up from anesthesia tends to make kids weepy. It's a confusing experience, but not painful. It just feels weird. The Pickle Queen sat and snuggled her confused Princess, and the Princess sucked on a rocket popsicle then a juice, then munched on some goldfish. One of the nurses gave her some stickers, then it was time to get changed back into her comfy clothes and head home. She even got to ride in a wheelchair out to the car!

Once home, the Pickle Princess was in good spirits and ate some jello with fruit in it. She was a little congested for a few days but was able to run around like usual. Her parents immediately noticed that she was now sleeping peacefully through the night and not drooling through the day, and she only sounded congested when she was actually sick. Her post-op appointment went smoothly as well!

And they lived happily ever after. The End!

Pickle Princess: Pool Time

Once upon a time in the Cucumber Kingdom, there was the Pickle Princess. She had a little brother named Sweet Baby Gherkin, a mother and father who loved her very much, and a cat named Lucy. 

One day, the Pickle Princess and Sweet Baby Gherkin were in a mood. Bickering and disobeying, they were having a rough time. The Pickle King said "Hey, we need to get out of here and stretch our legs. Let's go to the pool! You two need to behave so we can have a fun afternoon." 

First Ending: The kids behaved and played nicely together, so after lunch the Pickle Royal Family gathered up their swim thing and got into the Pickle Carriage and went to the pool! They splashed and played all afternoon and had a lovely time. 

Alternate Ending: The kids did not behave, and they all stayed home from the pool to try again another day.

Note: my kid specifically requests this story with whichever ending she chooses, and it's not always the positive ending. 

Pickle Princess: Flower Girl

Once upon a time in the Cucumber Kingdom, there was the Pickle Princess. She had a little brother named Sweet Baby Gherkin, a mother and father who loved her very much, and a cat named Lucy. 

One day, the Pickle Queen received very exciting news - her brother, the Duke of Dillweed, was getting married and he had a very special role for the Pickle Princess - she could be the flower girl! The first step was to get a special dress. The Pickle Queen placed her order and after a bit, the dress arrived! The Pickle Princess tried it on, checked that it fit, then carefully hung it up to await the big day. 

Soon, the big weekend was here. The Pickle Royals arrived a few days before the wedding. The day before the wedding, they had the rehearsal! The Pickle Princess wore a pretty dress, but not the extra special big day dress, and followed all the instructions of the wedding coordinator to wait, stand, and walk when needed. The Pickle King had some coloring books and crayons to help occupy their time as there's a lot of downtime when you're one of the littles in the wedding party. Afterwards, they had a wonderful meal with the whole family, then went to bed to be well rested for the big day. 

It was the big day! The Pickle Princess got up, got ready in a comfy dress, and got her hair done all fancy while eating breakfast. Then they all traveled to the venue for the wedding photos. Once they arrived, the Pickle Princess changed carefully into her extra fancy dress and followed all the instructions from the photographer and coordinator. She especially tried to smile when instructed! 

After photos, the Pickle Princess changed back into her comfy dress and everyone had lunch. After lunch, she played with her cousins a bit (but was careful to keep her hair nice) and then it was time to get ready for the ceremony. She changed back into her extra fancy dress and went into the lobby to wait for her cue. She had crayons and coloring books again to pass the time. Then, she got her cue! She held her flowers, walked gracefully, and waited where she was instructed. 

Soon, the ceremony was over and it was time for food and dancing! It was a marvelous end to the night, and she slept very well that night. 

And they lived happily ever after. The End!

Pickle Princess Intro

I have started telling my daughter (ever since she was 3 years old) Pickle Princess stories. Why pickle? She loves pickles. They were the theme of her last birthday party. Why did I invent a character? I was using Princess Jasmine (Disney), but with the Pickle Princess I could make the family match (two parents and a little brother) and again, she really likes pickles. What stories did I make up? Ones that match new experiences that could be scary or overwhelming when unprepared. Many things are brand new experiences for kiddos. Some events, like weddings, you want to go smoothly on the first try (since you only have the rehearsal to iron it all out then you want the big day to be excellent). Others, like surgery, are big and scary. And some stories are ones she requested that match everyday adventures that we have had or will have. Talking through things helps, but clear communication for new experiences can be hard. Hence, I made this character to literally walk though experiences before my daughter needed to do the same. So stay tuned for some stories posted here with the "pickle princess" tag!

Here's the classic intro:
Once upon a time in the Cucumber Kingdom, there was the Pickle Princess. She had a little brother named Sweet Baby Gherkin, a mother and father who loved her very much, and a cat named Lucy. 

Movie Review: Wicked Part One

 I watched the movie "Wicked Part One" and here are my thoughts:

First: Getting the movie. We are not in a stage of life that allows movie theatres so we looked to rent. It was rather confusing to rent from Amazon, but we figured it out and used some digital credits that added up nicely. We had 48hrs to watch it, and amazingly the kids went to bed quickly and stayed there for the length of the movie and a bit longer so we were able to just sit down and watch all three hours at once like it was meant to be. 

Spoiler-free review: Let's just say - I liked it all. But actually not every little trait however small. Let me start out by saying I like the Broadway show so I was set up to like this movie. The costumes, the set pieces, the acting, the singing - all great! I was confused by the lower half of the Shiz uniforms - was it a unisex skort? I couldn't tell but it confused me. The main actors were exempt from the uniform so that means it was hard to get a long look at it which also means I didn't stay confused long as we just moved on. I liked how different Elphaba's actress's voice was from the Broadway actress's voice - both are amazing but in their own different ways. There were a lot of emotions clearly emoted by all, and the many nods back to the 1939 movie and the Broadway play were a treat to spot. The actors were chosen not just for their looks but also for their singing voices and it worked beautifully in my opinion. 

Kid-friendliness: per IMDB, this movie is Rated PG for some scary action, thematic material and brief suggestive material. I stand by my decision to not let my kids watch as they are in the Y7 category (some G is too strong for them - they don't handle "mild peril" well). I think the film was rather tame until they meet the wizard (the final act of the movie as it ends at the intermission break of the musical). There was a bit more than "mild peril" at that point with POSSIBLE SPOILERS HERE (but really the play came out in 2003 so I feel you should know the plot by now) Elphaba reading from the magic book - it felt very witchy (which shouldn't be a surprise in a movie about witches but really more charlatans than witches). The flying monkey scene was rather grotesque body horror, then the guards closing in on our protagonists was very perilous and I'm unsure why this part didn't warrant a higher rating than PG. Yes there was no blood but there was... all that... going on. SPOILERS HERE for "all that": the wings bursting out of the monkeys backs, the monkeys then attacking E&G, the guards chasing E&G, the whole hot air balloon part with people falling from it and it all catching on fire. It was just a lot, and very different than the rest of the movie which definitely had darker undertones but they were undertones in a peppy musical. 

Random thoughts: I feel like this movie was billed as "Wicked" not "Wicked Part One" and I've very glad someone enlightened me that it was only half the musical or I would have been confused at the pacing then disappointed at the ending. I was unsure how it was going to stretch a Broadway musical (2.5hrs) into two movies, the first of which was 3hrs. But they did it well! Lots of camera angles, side conversations, and the like were able to fluff it out without seemed forced.