Immediately, my mind travelled back to when ES was a toddler, and our only son. He had a few favorite things back then (he would never admit to them still being favorites, but I can claim them as such). Two were hand-puppets of Ronald McDonald and Dopey:
He acquired the cute Ronald puppet at his first McDonald's birthday party (since they served a cake, I remember bringing gingerbread train cookies for each guest) when he turned 3. I believe I bought the Dopey puppet from a thrift store in DeKalb. I have a penchant for collecting puppets under the assumption that some day I will have a puppet ministry. Alas, the only puppet ministry goes on here at home and more often than not, it is hubby doing the voice-overs.
Along with Ronald and Dopey, my husband would do a special voice for a Toy Story Woody Doll which ES received from our dear friend, Beth. I would post a photo of Woody; however, he has recently passed on to the Great Trash Bin. You will have to look here.
It was one of the dolls with a pull-string and he said "Yee-hah, Cowboy!," "You're my favorite deputy!," "Reach for the sky!," and "There's a snake in my boot!" Sadly, last year, the boys came up with a new game called "Throw Woody up the stairwell as many times as possible to see what will happen." He was decapitated and despite valiant sewing efforts could not be revived for future law enforcement. If he could have, he would have instituted the new law of not throwing toys in the stairwell!
Anyway, my husband was fabulous with these characters. They each had a distinctive voice and personality. They would often fight (I suppose that was hubby's way of introducing an only child to the concept of sibling rivalry). But, Woody was the one with an impish personality. Alas, Woody taught our ES a made-up ditty which went like this:
"Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Poopies are stinky,
And so are you!"
He was already attending pre-kindergarten at the time, but I never heard any reports from his teachers. Then, one Sunday morning, as we were sitting in the third pew from the front of the sanctuary, moments before the service began, ES stood up on the pew, turned around and recited Woody's poem. Let me tell you, I was certainly glad that ES wasn't a pastor's kid (like I was while growing up) and I was even more grateful that I wasn't a pastor's wife!
Having written up a post to explain why these two puppets are among my favorites, I'm hoping that they will resume making more regular appearances in our home. The boys love it. I did stealthily manage a video clip of hubby interacting with the two little guys and Ronald and Dopey. But, I have promised hubby I will not post it here on my blog!
2 comments:
Woody in the trash??!?! Oh, the horror!
Cowboy would never be the same. Then again, he is extraordinarily protective of his Wood, since it required over a month of helping dad rake leaves & scoop dog poop to earn it. It was his first "earned"toy and in like-new condition after over a year. Where Cowboy goes, Woody generally goes, too. And if we are watching Toy Story, he gets Buzz and steals one of sister's Mr. Potato Heads & does the voice-overs along with the movie (he has them both memorized).
Wendy - Actually, I was the one who was horrified. It broke my heart because I had just seen one at a garage sale last summer and thought - nah, I shouldn't buy another one. Now I'm wishing I had. That is the only way they are getting another one - is if I find one on the cheap somewhere. You really should hear my husband's voice-overs, though - they are hysterical!
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