A Childish Aversion to All Things Grown-Up

Any kid worth his or her salt (or sugar and spice) would never be caught actively seeking out the company of a grown-up. Children probably have an international secret society, or a small-fry union, that mandates against fraternizing with the Big Enemy.

And this aversion to all things adult--which tends to manifest itself at about age 10, though precocious kids have developed attitude as early as 6--extends to those things grown-ups deem to be appropriate for children, such as kid programming, kid clothes or kid-proofing. My personal favorite is the Kid’s Menu, which any self-respecting child will assiduously avoid, eyes furtively darting here and there in search of the most expensive items (“Oh, look, Mommy, surf ‘n’ turf. That’s what I want!”)

So, I fear it may take some duplicity to get certain members of the family to attend this weekend’s Second Annual Santa Barbara Kids’ Film Festival, the subject of today’s For the Kids column (Page 53).

And that would be a shame, since there are things to attract people of all ages to this year’s festival. Besides feature films that should be appealing to children and parents, starting with the event opener, a new production of “The Wind in the Willows” by Monty Python veterans Michael Palin and John Cleese, there will be documentaries, animated films, seminars, workshops and many films, some local, made by kids. “This is being billed as the ‘Festival for the Children, by the Children,’ ” said Richard Kahlenberg, who wrote today’s story. “Not only is this aimed at children, but there will be on display media that children have aimed at adults.”

So, here’s our strategy: We tell the kids that we are taking them somewhere this weekend. We admit that the event has the dreaded K word attached to its name but insist they will enjoy it anyway, since absolutely no adult has had anything to do with it. Not one.

Of course they’ll never believe us, but we will also take them to lunch and let them order off the regular menu.