Day 20: Kickin' It, Plague-Style

You've probably noticed that I don't really discuss religion or politics in this blog, though I certainly have plenty to say about both. No, that would take time away from my favorite subject: me. However, I can't resist a little annotation on this art project Jarrah made at preschool this week, an illustrated list of the Ten Plagues. Which ten plagues, you ask? Why, the ones the Lord visited upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians when he wouldn't free the Jewish slaves. It's part of the story of Passover. Moses kept asking "Let my people go," and Pharaoh, according to Jarrah, kept saying "No, no, no, no, noooo!" Kind of like a 5-year-old who doesn't want to go to bed.

Anyway, I'm just sharing these because they're funny, so don't read anything into it, kay?

1. The first one, as you can see, is "Blood." Running through the Nile, I believe, which is why we have the striking image of the red over the blue, all artsy with the razor-cut cellophane. Lovely, isn't it?

2. Next came frogs. This is the favorite preschool plague because it is at once the most understandable and the most innocuous. I mean, "frogs here, frogs there, frogs were jumping everywhere?" Yes, they sing about it. How adorable.

3. Lice, ewwwwhh! But how fabulous is it that the person has ants in his/her hair? Instead of in the pants?

4. At first I was a little confused because #4 says "Wild Bears" yet none of the representative animals are bears. Jarrah looked at me like I'm a bit of an idiot when I mentioned it, and then I realized that whoever wrote the captions had actually made an error--this should be "Wild Beasts." I don't think they have bears in Egypt.

5. I go, "Oh, 'Sickness' has a row of...upside-down cows. Why is that?'" And Jarrah said, "Because they're dead." Oh. Apparently, this was a specific sickness, targeted at cows.

6. Okay, do you see the realistic depiction of mortification on this person's face? That's because they have BOILS. I mean, wasn't lice bad enough??? Ick!

7. Now that looks like the mother of all hail. Wow. In Egypt, yet.

8. More bugs. I don't have a joke here. What do I look like, a joke factory?

9. This is the best one. I mean, not only is it seriously dark, but it makes your eyes go all crossed and lazy. Nice work, Jarrah--genuinely scary. Until now, "Darkness" always seemed like the "Eh, it's bearable" plague. No more.

10. Notice this one has no label. Because, really, how do you talk about this one with preschoolers? "The last one was a real doozy, boys and girls. 'The Slaying of the First Born.' Yes, kind of like Buffy. What's that you say, Joey? You're the first born? Oh, please don't cry--let's talk about frogs! Who likes frogs?"