One unexpected aspect of new fatherhood is how much TV I’m suddenly watching. It starts in the pre-dawn hours of the morning with HBO Family’s greatest hits (Doesn’t it seem like they have 15 or so hours of kiddie programing dating back from the Reagan administration that they just play over and over?) during the morning feeding/making breakfast/getting-out-the-door ritual.
We pick up again in the early evening with Seinfeld and Family Guy on TBS. This is what we watch when Evie wakes from her post-early-evening-repast nap, (approximate length: 17.5 minutes) and regales us with “the song of her people.”
It occurred to me that we could probably use some more kid-friendly programing in the evening as well. Evie seems to enjoy it the mornings—meaning she quietly stares at the set while we finish our morning ablutions—so it could possibly help us at night. Right?
Well, after The Lorax on Netflix failed to soothe the savage baby, we found Hachi, A Dog’s Tale and watched that as we went through our usual crying-mitigation maneuvers and ran out the clock until Evie’s last feed and her bedtime.
Hachi is a re-telling of the true story of Hachiko, an Akita who met his owner at Shibuya station everyday when he returned from his work as a professor at the University of Tokyo. After his owner’s sudden death at work, he continued to wait for him everyday until his own death nine years later.
Despite a change of setting to a small Rhode Island town, the film is very faithful to the original story. In fact, the film does not accurately represent the degree to which Hachiko became a national symbol in Japan for his embodiment of true faithfulness and loyalty.
Last night, as Evie’s cries gave way to contented little moans as she fed, it was Baby Momma and I who were sobbing. We wept while Hachi waited for his owner until he too passed and joined his master on the other side.
These pooches do to us every time. It was Marley and Me and Old Yeller all over again.
What can I say? Big Daddy Carlos is a big, weepy softie.
