Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The Power of Elmo

What is it about this scrawny, red, squeaky-voiced little creature that absolutely mesmerizes our children? When I was little, I watched Sesame Street but don't even remember Elmo. And then, about 10 years ago, there appeared a cult that would literally run each other down at Christmas time to grab the latest and greatest version of the most amazing character ever created - the holiest of holy, Elmo. I'm baffled by it and really didn't understand his power until this past weekend when my husband and I took a four hour drive and popped an Elmo singing, dancing, and books video in the DVD player. It was the most peaceful drive we have ever experienced!! Our baby boy watched this DVD four times in a row and barely whined at all.

Now, let me explain why this is amazing. I have one of the highest-energy 14-month-olds I have ever seen in my 29 years of life. Since birth, he has not been much of a napper; we usually only make it through 10 minutes of church (who wants to listen to a mom trying to tell her son he can't climb over or under the pews?); we can't even load the dishwasher around him because he pulls everything out and climbs inside - EVERY SINGLE TIME; and instead of sitting on our laps while we're watching TV, he wants to jump up and down on the coach, on his chair, or on the stairs. However, during those four hours in the car, he was calm, entertained, and happy. Even tonight, nothing was pleasing him because his stomach hasn't felt well for a few days, but we popped in that DVD just to see if Elmo could comfort him since we weren't doing the trick, and it worked! Our boy was dancing, laughing, and switching from lap to lap (after we took his chair away because all he wanted to do was stand in it).

I am now and forever will be an Elmo groupie. I don't really get it, but I appreciate him. And when we need Elmo to come to the rescue, I hope he rides in on his big, white horse - but I'll settle for him popping up on my screen with his goldfish friend, Dorothy.

4 comments:

  1. I'm sending you my post on Elmo!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is so funny! We bought Elmo's Potty Time for Rayna to watch in the car & she loves it! We suffered for so long and just recently bought the car DVD player. Best investment we ever made!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ha,ha my daughter is the same, has so much energy, at times I feel SO old, can't keep up with her all day.

    Saludos,
    A Mexican Mommy living in Europe

    ReplyDelete