When I think about the upcoming solar eclipse a few things come to mind:

I have to resist the urge to Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” whenever someone mentions the word eclipse. Stuck in your head now? You’re welcome.

Wait, is it time to sing Moana songs now?

Did everyone see the viral post about a mom asking to reschedule the sun? Yeah, I kinda get it. I know the solar eclipse is a BIG deal, but up to this point it has really just felt like another thing on my to do list. But we are learning more about the eclipse here, adults and kids too – and we are all starting to get excited.

Next I think of the first Curious George movie where we get introduced to Ted, better known as the man in the yellow hat. He does not start off as the lovable and endearing man we now know him to be. There is a scene where he is in a jungle, looking for some lost artifact. He misinterprets a clue and looks directly into the sun. This is what you get:

   

And in this children’s blog I’ve already made 2 movie references. So yeah we do screen time in our house 🙂

If you do screen time I highly recommend the Curious George 2 movie and the series. But I digress. There has been debate at our house about how safe it is for children to watch the eclipse, would they even care and every other related topic. We decided we are going to view it as a family and take the necessary precautions. We bought eclipse glasses some time ago but they really don’t fit the kids heads well. So I stumbled upon Everyday Einstein’s Facebook page and found this little gem:

I love that it prevents light from coming in the top and bottom of the glasses, especially since the fit isn’t that great. So today we made our own:

                                              

I taped the glasses to the plate so there is no slits for light to filter in. I made one for each of my children, but honestly I may go back and make me and my husband a paper plate eclipse mask as well. These glasses are CRAZY dark of course  I couldn’t see at all inside. I am going to go back and punch a hole in the arms of the sun glasses for the kids so I can literally tie it around their heads. I told the kids it would be a special super hero mask that we could only wear on Monday. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

Looking for local solar eclipse activities? Head over to WRAL’s Go ask Mom for a list of things to do in the Triangle

What are your solar eclipse plans?