Where The Wild Things Are! Media, Mamas & More

squirrel2 May 9, 2009 My original title for this post was “Wild Babies & Squirrelly Mamas” but just imagining the trash that would find its way to my spam filter deterred! This new headline gives me the opportunity for a ‘three-fer’ instead…

1.) A fall preview of the movie trailer adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s story “Where the Wild Things Are” directed by Spike Jonze (hat tip to media mama Izzy Neis for the Oct. 16 release date and trailer, after the jump)

2.) A celebration of Mother’s Day with WildCare sharing the annual Spring Baby Shower with orphaned baby critters of all kinds to help out their animal aid hospital replenish supplies.

AND 3.) A heartfelt salute to Courtney Macavinta and the RespectRx Rallies taking place to stave off teen motherhood and curb the rise in teen pregnancy for the first time in 15 years! I say we should add media’s portrayal of ‘wild things’ to the stats of 3 out of 10 teens becoming moms already, and ensure teens are fully informed.

It all meshes together nicely… from the movie thread:

“Inside all of us is hope, inside all of us is adventure, inside all of us is a wild thing” …

…To the hands-on glimpse of the neediness, necessity and demands of caring for infants of all kinds at Wild Care…

…To closing the loop with ‘what it takes to be a mom’ cues of squawking fledglings and constant feedings of the fragile beasties in their care…

…Might even help counter-market the ‘baby as peer magnet for teen attention’ normalized in media portrayals as of late, and deter the disastrous desire to have a baby just to have someone ‘love you whole-heartedly and unconditionally’…

Perhaps kids could try syringe-feeding orphaned squirrel babies ten times a day or noisy, gaping birdie beaks desperate for food…They might find it akin to the ‘potato sack’ simulation for preventive behavioral cues…

Yes, I was a wildlife mom at the PHS Wildlife Care Center loooooong before I was a human mom, so I know of which I speak…Using feather dusters as surrogates for baby quail, pillowcase hammocks for the squirrels to snuggle, and ‘bird nests’ of fresh produce baskets and tissue.

WildCare has a wish list and could sure use ‘shower gifts’ in the form of gift certificates, as those hungry baby animals are missing their mamas big time and they’re in dire need of fresh supplies. (spring flings ‘get busy’ in the critter world and volunteers could use a hand with all the newborns in ANY SPCA across the country)

“Fresh lettuce and greens, for hundreds of ducklings, eggs for the opossums and raccoons, yogurt for baby formulas, fruits for omnivorous birds and mammals, live insects and mealworms from pet shops for fledgling birds, fresh fish and creepy-crawlies from bait shops for water birds and reptiles” are all in high demand in varying quantities in the busy season being mama to all these wee ones…so fresh funds for springtime/chow time would help nurse these mama-less babes.

squirrel

I sent this e-card to myself for Mother’s Day (awww…) because I can’t think of a better gift than the circle of life. For more ‘important mom’ messages in the survival scheme of things, check out Disneynature’s Earth premiere for crystal clear evidence of the necessity of good parenting.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, Mr. Moms, soon-to-be-moms, or ‘moms to the world’ that do good things for others on our own Mother Earth.

Time for a day of celebration of birth, life, moms and humanity (not a $16 billion ‘market opportunity’). Here’s to the ‘wild thing’ in each and every one of us…

p.s. BTW: This movie looks amazing; I cringed when I heard they were even going to attempt Sendak on film, but I’m ‘eating crow.’ (not too grand for a wildlife post; but now I at least know the origins of the phrase! ) Enjoy!