Skip to main content

Baby Tad

Why do all baby toys talk? When Caroline was a newborn, her vibrating chair had a little attachment with a lion and a parrot that lit up and sang songs when she pulled on the plastic figures. As she pulled and cooed, we'd find ourselves humming the tunes while cooking, doing laundry or even at work during a meeting. "Birds fly high and low...you can do it too!" would be in our heads at all times of the day.

When she outgrew the chair, it was then the farmer's tractor. Now this one was in my head in my sleep or better yet, during relaxation time in yoga class. Breathe deep. Clear your mind. "Old McDonald, THAT'S ME!" Clear your mind. Breathe. "EIEIOHH!"

My dad gave Caroline a LEAP Frog baby Tad for Christmas. Tad is special. The stuffed buddy is Caroline's new androgynous friend. Tad, who is marketed as neither male nor female, has lots of shapes on his/her chest to hit and that light up and play songs. Tad sings old favorites like Hickory, Dickory Doc and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Like all the other toys, you start to hum these songs over and over including all of Tad's little interjections, which gets me to my point that Tad is really a boy.

After singing a little tune, Tad says in a very sweet, sappy voice, I LOVE you and let's SNUGGLE. With these sappy lines I am convined Tad is a boy. These phrases are really little ploys to trick Caroline into thinking Tad really does love her. He's not saying it just to get her to snuggle. I know men and they are tricky even if they look sweet and cuddly. I can bet you that if Caroline and Tad continue their relationship for a few more months Tad will stop singing his lullabies and starts saying, I LOVE you but will you do my laundry?

Six months from now, Tad will be sitting on the couch watching football and none of his buttons will light up any more and he'll say he worked all week and won't feel like singing or snuggling when she asks him to. Caroline will be fixing him a snack on her play stove and muttering under her breath one of Mommy's simple but poignant favorite phrases, "Men."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Facebook Reality Check

I am a big facebook user. No, I don't play Farmville or Candy Crush Saga but I spend at least 15 minutes on the site daily. I have read many articles about how facebook kills one's self esteem because people use the site to boast and brag about their awesome lives, which in turn makes others feel badly about their own. We all know that facebook is a slice of one's life or maybe a projection of the life they want to live. Anybody who isn't a fool should realize that. As a frequent facebooker and hardcore extrovert, with a lack of a strong filter, I find this whole situation to be a dilemma. What is worse, reading about someone's awesome day and seeing a picture of how fabulous they looked during their awesome day, or reading about their terrible day, looking at angry political memes, or rants about the bad customer service they received? Do you want to read about how someone had the best night ever with their bestest buds (you not included) or that they have been ...
1 comment
Read more

TomKat or AndMel?

Over the weekend I had "my hour". Sixty whole minutes at the gym including 30 on the new treadmill and the latest In Style magazine to read while I sweat it out to my itunes. I happily flipped and thumped along, checking out the latest hand bags and arm cuffs until I got to an article about Katie Holmes. I had to flip back and forth several times to admire one of my favorite Hollywood pieces of eye candy. How can she and I have children almost the same age and she can look like that and have run a marathon this year? No matter what we all tell ourselves about celebs, we still envy them or just can't help but stare at their image in a magazine and read all about how they've found themselves via religion, rehab or marriage to Tom Cruise. My favorite part of the article was Katie recalling Suri's birth story. She says something about how supportive Tom was by placing candles and picture frames around the room. That's helpful? If Andy was lighting candles during ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Somebody Who Matters

At first glance, one may not think that my mom and I are alike. Moe is shy and reserved. She's calm and thoughtful. She's a good listener and keeps things to herself. She's grounded and sensible. She's practical. You may be laughing now if you know me. I'm loud and outspoken. I'm dramatic and irrational. I talk too much and share too much. My head is often in the clouds and I lack common sense. I 'm a dreamer. How did this kid come from that mom? Well, if you know me, you also know that my mom has had the greatest impact on me and that we are actually very much alike. For example, Moe isn't really shy or reserved. She's just waiting for the right time to tell you what she thinks and you're going to hear it whether or not you like it. She uses the F-bomb freely, and sometimes inappropriately. In her own right, she is a feminist. She's a loyal friend. She's the family organizer. She has a quirky sense of humor and knows not to take hersel...
Post a Comment
Read more