Janet Sumner Johnson
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A Mary Poppins Mother’s Day

May 09, 2011 Uncategorized 14 comments

So, my Mother’s Day didn’t go exactly as one might hope. The eve of, I picked up my crying daughter from her crib, only to get covered in diarreah. The morning of, I woke up feeling like a piano was sitting on my chest,with a yucky cold. I hated to miss church because on Mother’s Day not only do all the children sing to you, but the men all bring these marvelous treats for the women to eat during the women’s meeting. Furthermore, I was supposed to pick someone up, and help with the children’s meeting, so it was actually a lot of work not to go.

My husband couldn’t help because he’d been working all night and needed to sleep before working all night again. After debating the possibilities, I finally concluded I really couldn’t (and shouldn’t!) go to church.  THANKFULLY I made this decision, because just as we would have been in the car on the way, my 4-year-old threw up. Yes, it truly was quite the day.

So when I got my two sickies down to sleep, I proposed to my 7-year-old that we watch Mary Poppins. I loved this movie as a kid (I even learned how to say Supercalifragilisticexpialadocious backwards – Docious-ali-expi-istic-fragi-cali-rupus, in case you were wondering). My son would never watch it before, but since we don’t usually watch movies on Sunday, he jumped at the chance.

This time was the charm. He loved it! And of course I loved it all over again. I even had to watch the “making of” portion in the Bonus Features. That’s when my son lost interest.

Still, I found it fascinating. Did you know that Walt Disney spent 20 years trying to get the rights to film this movie? P.L. Travers didn’t want to see her work desecrated by Hollywood. But Disney had fallen in love with the book, and he never stopped trying. He just knew that it was something worth pursuing. (Sound familiar?)

And did you know that Julie Andrews only accepted the part of Mary Poppins after she failed to get the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady? If you recall, that part went to the inimitable Audrey Hepburn. But guess who won the Oscar for Best Actress that year? I’ll give you a hint: it didn’t go to Audrey Hepburn. Ms. Andrews’ amazing success in Mary Poppins only came because she was first rejected. (Funny enough, she actually thanked the producer of My Fair Lady in her acceptance speech at the Oscars!)

So I won’t slam the morals down your throat, I’m sure you can see how these great stories might apply to us. But I will show you the picture my son drew while I was watching the “making of.”

Recognize it? If you don’t, go watch it again. If you’ve never seen it . . . well hurry and rectify that! Mary Poppins is an inspirational film. So simple, yet so complex. And even though my day may not have been all one might hope, I’m okay with that. Somehow, after seeing this movie with my son, I don’t feel so gloomy. And that’s the best a storyteller can hope for, isn’t it?

14 comments , , , , ,

14 Responses to “A Mary Poppins Mother’s Day”

  1. Melissa says:

    That's so cute your son drew you something from Mary Poppins – you know the kid liked the movie when they want to spend the time to recreate something from it!

    Thanks for all the background info on Mary Poppins – I had no idea and it was interesting. (Love that Julie Andrews thanked the people from My Fair Lady!)

  2. Wow that is really interesting about Julie Andrews and very inspirational.
    Sorry the kiddos were sick on Mother's Day. One time my kiddo has the mother of all nose bleeds on Mother's day one year. I almost thought we were going to have to go the ER because it just wouldn't stop.

  3. Sorry, Janet, about your less than great day. I hope today is better.

    I love Mary Poppins. I didn't realize that about Julie Andrews and My Fair Lady. Things definitely worked out for her in the end. 😀

  4. Joanne says:

    Just goes to show you that sometimes those dreaded rejections happen for a reason 🙂

    Hope everyone's feeling better today.

  5. storyqueen says:

    Hope your kids are feeling better! And I just love Mary Poppins…"pratically perfect in every way."

    And I always wanted to be able to clean magically!

    Shelley

  6. So sorry that your house was in such a state – Mother's Day or otherwise. Hopefully you are all getting well.

  7. Marry Poppins has got to be one of my favorite films ever. 🙂 And I love Julie Andrews! 😀

  8. That is awesome! I knew she tried for My Fair Lady, but I didn't know the rest! So cool! I love that he kept trying. And how obviously it applies to us writers. Great post! Sorry about your rough mothers day!!

  9. MikeS says:

    Bummer. Rotten day. I'm glad I didn't have to sit through that movie again. Just kidding of course. Maybe next year will be the best Mother's Day ever.

  10. LTM says:

    AND! Dick van Dyke was on the Today show last week still going strong! No kidding!

    so sorry you got covered in poop. That stinks. :p I drew the short straw and had to do kids' worship on M'day Sunday, so I didn't get any treats either. But the kids are so sweet, it made it all okay~

    take it easy now. Hope babies are better~ <3

  11. Ahhh, it's sweet how you ended this. Happy Mothers Day, two days late.

    My little girl was up all night with an itchy bum bum. When I took her to the pediatrician yesterday, I was told that she had pin worms. Poor little girl. That must be torture.

    But on the up side. My husband bought me flowers.

  12. Sorry to hear you were dealing with little ones that were sick. Hope everyone is feeling better soon! I haven't watched Mary Poppins in ages! Wonder if our VCR still works?

  13. I love that movie! And I'm obsessed with Julie Andrews. The 'making of' is really neat too. I'm sorry you had a crazy mother's day but it sounds like it ended on a wonderful 'note' (no pun intended) BTW, I also memorized the backwards supercali…etc. when I was a kid but it always annoyed me that it wasn't truly backwards. They just took individual parts and made them backwards!

  14. I really do need to watch it again – it's been years and I'm sure I've forgotten lots of gems. So glad your day turned around for the better.

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