All the Horrible Girliness

Today I took The Bug over to Mr. Aran's office for some trick or treating. He got a goodie bag full of non-edible things, like stickers and finger puppets, and one measley box of Junior Mints, which we shared. There were four in the box. The Bug, in his ear of corn outfit, was the youngest child there and could not have cared less about the spider pinata, but he was beautiful and funny and big and it was so good to see Mr. Aran in the middle of the day.

Afterward, I figured we only had an hour before we needed to pick up Mr. Aran from work so we just hit Starbucks and Target. I spent twelve dollars on a frappuchino and a teether and a bag of tiny, tiny squirt guns that I will give out to any trick or treaters tonight, though I'm assuming we won't have any. The Bug started to fuss so we got in the car and went back to the office and I called Mr. Aran and told him we were outside, when he was ready to go. He was excited for about ten seconds, then he said, "But honey, I don't get off work for another hour." And then I realized I hadn't changed the time on the car clock for Daylight Savings Time.

So The Bug and I sat in the car together for another hour, looking at cars and listening to talk radio, which is a habit I've been trying to kick for about five years now.

***

We picked up some Zankou Chicken, amazing stuff. After I ate, I cracked open a fortune cookie leftover from last night, and the fortune said, "Forget the doubts and fears that are creeping into your heart."

I mean, what the pho?

***

Speaking of which, The Bug laughed his ass off throughout this whole little movie. I just watched him, dumbfounded. My child has a sick sense of humor.

Also: the other day, I needed to do something so I sat The Bug in his swing in front of the TV and turned on Sesame Street. It was the first time he's seen it. Big Bird was doing his thing, trying to find Ernie, and they sang the "One of these things doesn't belong" song, or whatever it's called. The kid just busted out laughing. He sat there babbling at Sesame Street until it went to commercial. I've never seen him respond to something he's never seen before like that. We wondered if it had something to do with inherited memory, if maybe Sesame Street was such a big part of our childhoods that he recognized it, or if he had a past life in which he watched Sesame Street, or if the characters are just that archetypal, or if there's some crazy subliminal kiddie message going on.

***

One thing on Sesame Street hit me just right. Ernie was teaching the viewing audience how to pat their heads and rub their tummies, simultaneously. Bert wandered in, and Ernie wanted him to join, but Bert didn't want to at first because he'd look silly. But Ernie told him that everyone looks silly when they first try something, and of course, by the end of the song, Bert was rubbing and patting with so much joy that he didn't realize it was time to stop.

I must have missed that episode when I was a kid, because I didn't learn that lesson until I was in my mid-twenties.

posted by Samus @ 7:31 PM