A friend of mine (with an incredibly insightful and hilarious blog of her own) recently wrote about a frightening toy given to her five year old for her birthday. This thing was unbearably grotesque. If it had been given to me at five, I would have completely freaked out and insisted that my parents throw it away. Better yet, I would have had them burn it before it turned all gremlin on us.
So as I chuckled and guffawed at this disgusting little toy, I realized that there’s a whole other world of toys that I’ve yet to explore. While we try to keep Stella’s toy chest full of playthings aesthetically and sonically bearable, there are still some quirky stories hiding beneath the surface. I’m sure of it.
I know I don’t have too much time on my hands. So I can only assume that I’m a bit batty, because taking on this new perspective – that of the secret life of toys – has been thoroughly entertaining and a little too engaging. Bear with me on this… I’ll try to keep it to only a week of posts. I’ll start with the simple story of a man and a woman.
So as I chuckled and guffawed at this disgusting little toy, I realized that there’s a whole other world of toys that I’ve yet to explore. While we try to keep Stella’s toy chest full of playthings aesthetically and sonically bearable, there are still some quirky stories hiding beneath the surface. I’m sure of it.
I know I don’t have too much time on my hands. So I can only assume that I’m a bit batty, because taking on this new perspective – that of the secret life of toys – has been thoroughly entertaining and a little too engaging. Bear with me on this… I’ll try to keep it to only a week of posts. I’ll start with the simple story of a man and a woman.
Mama and Papa: A Love Story
Meet Mama and Papa.
(Stella immediately recognized Mama as me and claimed this fella as the Papa.
The resemblance is uncanny, isn't it? )
Oh well. I like to call them Doug and Sherry.
Doug and Sherry live in a suburban three story split level.
They have a roomy bathroom. (Sherry still regrets the all-purple theme. A bit much, for sure.)
And they have matching single beds (Isn’t that convenient!)
Doug and Sherry entertain a lot.
They accept all kinds. (They voted for Obama.)
They love their neighbors, Tish and Demetri. (Although, if she's honest, Sherry is a bit jealous. Despite being a single mom, Tish always seems so put together. She bakes, sews and volunteers at the local food bank. On her bad days, Sherry doesn't really like Tish.)
Okay, I’m cracking myself up here. But not as much as Stella cracks me up when she plays with Doug, Sherry and their cohorts. It only took about a day for her to fully embrace the heterosexual paradigm of a mama, papa and baby. Sure, it’s what she knows in her own home, so it’s not a surprise at all that that’s what she would emulate. What has been surprising are the deeply passionate kisses Mama and Papa plant on one another when in Stella’s presence. Let me rephrase. Stella is pushin’ the sweet love when it comes to Doug and Sherry-. This is so funny to the Papa (the original Papa) and me because we weren’t aware up until now that Stella was really watching us as we displayed our affection for each other. After we stopped laughing, we kind of looked at each other with a bit of pride. While I’m not totally comfortable with my toddler slipping into potentially rigid ideologies of what a family should look like (I know, I’m probably over thinking this!), I’m VERY comfortable – elated actually – that she thinks of Mama and Papa (aka Doug and Sherry) as loving, affectionate and connected. That sure as hell beats an imaginary game of contentious shouting, right? It felt like a report card of sorts, and I think the Papa and I scored well.
Okay. Enough exposition. I apologize for possibly stealing thunder from Doug and Sherry. They really are a lovely couple.
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