Doodling With Daddy
My daughter and I doodle. In church pews, grocery store lines, or anywhere when we're stuck waiting and have pen and paper. We doodle in the sand along the bay with sticks, drawing giraffes, whales, lions, dogs and fish. We draw numbers and letters (she can count to twenty and knows all the alphabet--not bad for a two year old).

Last night, we waited patiently for a Sesame Street production we were attending. All the usual suspects were there: Big Bird, Elmo, Grover and Oscar (along with some Daddy is not familiar with). My daughter was ping-ponging between her mother and I and excitedly watching all the other little kids.

I love my daughter. Anyone who has read any of my scribblings is well aware of that fact. I love her so much it shocks me sometimes. I even love her enough to sit through an hour and a half of Sesame Street, watching oversized, brightly colored muppets prance around singing about letters (the letter of the day was Y), numbers (the number of the day was 2) and generally getting along with each other in this multi-cultural world.

What I didn't expect was a fifteen minute intermission during the show. Intermission? Are you kidding me? As the lights came up, I saw my little girl's lip curling up, "No, no, more Elmo, more Big Bird." She touched her little fingers together in the sign language we taught her long ago--as if to bolster her request in case Mommy and Daddy weren't clear. The lights came on and two hucksters walked to the front of the theatre to sell Elmo balloons.

Are you guys telling me you stopped this production just to sell some balloons? Meanwhile, parents throughout were dealing with these questions:

"Why's Big Bird leaving?"

"What happened to Cookie Monster?"

"Did they fix the spaceship?"

Fifteen minutes is a long time to wait after getting a taste. I think the producers of the show should have to entertain a 2 year old during intermission. Then it would be bye-bye intermission....

In case you're wondering--(and I don't want to spoil it for anyone so read no further if you're planning on going sometime)--everyone returned and there was singing and dancing and the spaceship was lifted off by collective "sneezing" by the entire audience, thereby insuring a good mixing of germs among the throngs of little ones.

Now I'm looking for some echinacea.