The Secret World of Arrietty

I was delighted to take my three children to a screening of “The Secret World of Arrietty” on this snowy Saturday morning.  The story is based on the novel “The Borrowers” by Mary Norton.

Arrietty (voice of Bridgit Mendler), a tiny, but tenacious 14-year-old, lives with her parents (voices of Will Arnett and Amy Poehler) in the recesses of a suburban garden home, unbeknownst to the homeowner and her housekeeper (voice of Carol Burnett). Like all little people, Arrietty (AIR-ee-ett-ee) remains hidden from view, except during occasional covert ventures beyond the floorboards to “borrow” scrap supplies like sugar cubes from her human hosts. But when 12-year-old Shawn (voice of David Henrie), a human boy who comes to stay in the home, discovers his mysterious housemate one evening, a secret friendship blossoms. If discovered, their relationship could drive Arrietty’s family from the home and straight into danger.
 
“The Secret World of Arrietty” is an introspective movie that, as my eight year old daughter says, doesn’t have a lot of words”.  The beauty of the movie comes through in Arrietty’s tiny, but courageous and self-confident character.  As Arrietty comes of age and is officially able to become a “borrower”, her world explodes with beautiful imagery, sound and wonderment as she explores the world of the Beans.

The film hits theaters Feb. 17, 2012.

Honey – A Natural Cough Suppressant?

My 10 year old son has had a bad cold for that last 6 days. I took him to the Dr’s office on the 3rd day because he was complaining of a sore throat, which for him usually means strep. The rapid strep test came back negative and we were both surprised. So the Dr asked him – my 10 year old mind you – if he wanted a prescription for his cough, which wasn’t even that bad yet. Again, he asked my son, not me! Anyway, my son got a prescription for Robitussin, which I didn’t fill…. until 2 days later when his cough was getting worse. He had about two different doses and we didn’t notice a difference at all, so we stopped using it. Tonight was an especially hard night, as he was coughing consistently all afternoon and evening. Despite my efforts with a hot shower and warm tea with honey (he wouldn’t touch it) his cough would not settle down. Most kids love honey, but not my finicky boy. I finally convinced him he needed to try honey. 

Honey has many benefits and the benefit I needed was to suppress my son’s cough. Dr. Weil states that in “a study published in the December 2007 Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, which showed that a teaspoon of honey given at bedtime seems to quell coughs among young children and help them sleep better. In this study, honey worked better than giving kids cough medicine containing the dextromethorphan or giving them nothing at all.” Although this study focused on children, adults can benefit from the use of honey to suppress a cough.

So before bed I gave my reluctant son a spoonful of honey and set up the humidifier as an additional measure to help ease his cough. I tucked him in and…so far so good! I haven’t heard a peep from his room. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.