fantastic ms. zozo

I'm a big Fantastic Mr. Fox fan. It was the first real book that I read and it spurred a mild childhood obsession with Roald Dahl. It was also the first real book that I read to Brennan. The fact that Wes Anderson chose my favorite Dahl book to create the best cinematic interpretation of any Dahl book to date (read and weep, Chocolate Factory lovers) just makes it that much better. It's like the ultimate white compliment, and even better than claiming that you saw Bottle Rocket (1996) in 1994.

There is a scene in the film where Mr. Fox is lamenting his life under ground and his respectable profession as a newspaper columnist. He asserts that living in their current home makes him feel poor. His ever-loving and ever-practical wife responds, "We are poor. But we're happy." He replies in his characteristically flippant manner, and the movie goes on. It's a good moment in the film, but not one that I ever considered particularly memorable...especially for the kids. Until the other day.

Brennan has become a bit concerned with our recent decision to quit my good job and resume graduate studies on a full time basis. We openly talk to the kids about our early years of marriage...we didn't have any money, ate a lot of rice, took good advantage of eating a ton during trips to our parents' homes, etc. When we have discussed this in the past, Brennan wears his passage through poverty like a medal. "You know Zoe, I didn't have chocolate until I was four. That's how poor we were. Opening scene of Saving Private Ryan? Yeah, I've been there." Perhaps we overstated the poverty, but I don't think so. Brennan has my propensity for taking life's circumstances and mentally bending them just enough to convince himself that he is a conqueror/saint/survivor. Have I ever told you about no warm showers for 5 months in Brasil?

On this particular day, Brennan was asking specific questions about how life will change when I quit my job. "Will we move" (we tried. not any more.)? "Will we keep the black car" (yes. forever.)? "Will I still go to Southside" (yes.)? After a few more questions, he arrived at the final question. The kicker. His real concern. "Will we be poor? (voice reflected partial excitement, part terror.)" Before I could respond, Zoe, who had been taking all of this in quietly, chimes in with: "We are poor. But we're happy."

Hold. The. Phone.

6 words. Nailing the context. Roald Dahl. Resolving concern with a gentle, optimistic rebuke. Quoting film. I think I'm in love. Zoe instantly recognized she was on to something brilliant and continued quoting the film: "What the cuss did you say, you little cuss?" I suppose we could do without that, but she was on a roll, so I had to let it slide.

There are many lessons here, and parallels to be made between our life and that of the Fox family...but that's for another time. In the end, the experience made me grateful for our kids' good sense of humor, their appreciation for good entertainment, their keen memory, and their ability to appropriately access pop culture and insert it into daily interactions (clutch). I hadn't been this proud since a 3 yr old Brennan started singing Salt n' Peppa's Push It to a surprised checkout clerk in upstate New York.

Stuff White People Really Like #476: Children who can quote Wes Anderson.