Dinosaurs are . . . maybe not the worst things ever?

Just as a recap, when Jurassic World came out in 2015, I compiled this list of why dinosaurs are the worst things ever:

10. They eat people. Straight out of their cars.
9. I spent most of school learning that dinosaurs were cold-blooded, and then I learned in high school that they were actually warm-blooded. I asked how long people had known that and my teacher said since the 70s. So I was getting fed inaccurate information all along. Why was I even learning about dinosaurs, come to think of it? Also, how would they even know? (Incidentally, I just googled it, and the consensus is still out as to warm or cold blood. Take that, science in schools.)
8. For some reason, if you ever mention a brontosaurus people correct you. Because a rose by any other name is just unacceptable.
7. Most of the names are hard to pronounce. How can books full of words like that really promote literacy?
6. Birds are so much better. (And don't try to tell me that birds are dinosaurs. I already discussed that for several bus rides home in middle school.)
5. Land Before Time sequels exist because of them.
4. They ruined Fantasia, and also Stravinsky.
3. At my school, 2nd graders got to go to the dinosaur park in Ogden. But I skipped 2nd grade, so I never saw them, and people rubbed it in. Which shows they weren't really that cool to start with.
2. Fossil fuels smell bad.
1. Littlefoot's mom dies.

Some of those reasons don't matter so much to me (I sort of believe now that birds are dinosaurs, but I don't know if I could ever say that out loud), but some are just as important as ever. Especially #8. Joseph went to a birthday party at the Peabody Museum back in March, and there was a plaque all about how brontosauruses might have actually been real after all (which they obviously care about since the original brontosaurus skeleton was on display in that room). I pulled out my phone and confirmed the accuracy of the plaque with this article. But when I was trying to figure out whose dinosaur head belonged to whom the tour guide confused me more by saying brontosauruses still weren't real. What's the point of talking about brontosauruses when everyone's just going to correct you no matter what you say?

But that's not really what I want to talk about. I want to admit that maybe I am think that this terrible lizard might not be so terrible after all. Here's why:

3. If dinosaurs are so terrible, then why am I letting my children watch Dinosaur Train, Thomas the Train with anachronistic dinosaurs, and even old Barney episodes? As long as the dinosaurs have good manners and whine less than Caillou, they can't be that terrible, right?

2. My kids still look cute in dinosaur pajamas.

1. The other morning I tried to get my kids to eat more breakfast by reading a book about dinosaurs to them. After each dinosaur name there was a pronunciation given (still not convinced about ankylosaurus, but whatevs) and also its Greek or Latin name.

And so I realized, hey! I can turn dinosaurs into an etymological adventure!

So not only were my kids nourished by the additional bites of cereal they ate in the style of various dinosaurs, but they now also know some Latin and Greek. As do I.

My heart with raptor thrills.

(But don't tell anybody. I still don't ever want to go on a dinosaur museum field trip.)