Save That Other Planet

Oo has a new obsession: the former planet Pluto. She first learned of Pluto last summer, when we bought a floor puzzle of the solar system. As she and I worked on the puzzle, we talked about the sun, planets, comets, and other celestial bodies illustrated in the puzzle. And as you can see in the picture below, Pluto has tears streaming down its face.


She was very curious about why Pluto is sad, and I told her that it may be because Pluto used to be a planet but isn't any more. After that, whenever she puts the puzzle together, she asks why Pluto is sad—not because she doesn't remember my answer, but because she's hoping for a reason that doesn't sound so grim.

This Friday, we received a shipment from Amazon, which included among other things, Martha Stewart's "Cupcakes" cookbook (yum!) and the They Might Be Giants' DVD/CD set entitled "Here Comes Science." A song on the album—"How Many Planets?"—teaches kids the names and order of the planets in our solar system. The song also addresses the Pluto situation and explains why, in 2006, the International Astronomical Union reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet.


The song has re-ignited Oo's interest in Pluto, but with much fervor. After watching the song's video, she pounded her fist into the palm of her hand and declared, "I will not rest until Pluto is a planet again." Her approach to free Pluto from its sorrow involves contacting the government and telling them they must change Pluto back into a planet. To this plan I nodded my head, not daring to inform her that the government is pretty busy with other stuff right now.

Her devotion to Pluto is unfailing. She has been composing ballads to Pluto:

Pluto, oh Pluto, I will always be your friend.
Don't worry, oh Pluto, you'll be a planet again.

She has made a couple drawings of her and Pluto holding hands (notice, Pluto is now smiling):


She also challenges me multiple times throughout the day to name all of the planets. When I name them—Mercury through Neptune—she gets really ticked off at me for not including Pluto. A teeny, tiny part of me enjoys getting a rise out of her. A little tit for tat, if you will.*


* While wearing a mischievous grin, Oo admitted to Adrian this weekend that she likes to ask us "Why?" over and over and over. She calls it "The Why? Game." I call it "Let's Fluster Mommy."