A bit negative, isn't it?

While I'll admit they're cute, and they appear harmless, I just can't imagine clothing my little Jonathan in any Despicable Me branded apparel. And no: I don't have anything against the movie--in fact, I haven't seen it--but the title bothers me quite a lot.

You see, I believe in a positive-minded affirmation-first parenting model. For example, when Jonathan used his surprisingly permanent magic markers to draw a picture of a space battle on the side of our minivan, I thanked him for expanding my notions of what constitutes an appropriate canvas and challenged him to take the newfound knowledge from this exploration and apply it next time to a more traditional paper surface.

Likewise, when he poured out a gallon of milk on the bathroom tile to use as a kind of calcium-rich slip-and-slide, I praised him for his creative ideas regarding the intake of dairy for both he and the floor, and then insisted that his usual milk glass was probably feeling a little left out of all the fun and so next time might he find a way to involve it?

Similarly, when he used the house plant in a living room as a toilet, I observed aloud how amazingly generous it was to give so much of himself for the apparent betterment of nature, and told him that next time he need not be such an absolutely selfless saint about the ordeal and should feel free to give the plant the usual boring old tap water.

So you can see how, despite the fact that nowhere on these pajamas is printed the film's title, it might be subconsciously damaging to adorn my Jonathan in clothing associated with a phrase as negative as, "Despicable Me." Why, it could undo all the great work I've done, and I just CAN'T have that, can I?

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