Elmo's World

Last Sunday was a prime candidate for one of those days that you stay in the house, hide under the covers, and just wait for the next day to arrive. Here's a written snapshot of our household last Sunday at about 3:15 p.m. Daddy was sprawled out on the couch with a headache for the ages... mommy was fighting off cold symptoms that the kids were intent on sharing with her. Justin was asleep after a tumultuous afternoon of fighting off his nap and running circles around his worn down parents. Jasmine ... I can't remember where Jasmine was... but I'm willing to bet that, wherever she was, she was not happy about it. It was just that kind of day. So the three kids (me, Justin, and Jasmine) were home and mommy had managed to drag herself out of the house on a rainy day to meet the commitment of attending a friend's birthday party about 25 minutes away.

Halfway there, her cell phone rings. It's Charlette. And she's got 4 free tickets to see Sesame Street Live at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. The show starts in an hour. And just like that, a weekend is transformed. V called me right away to ask me if we'd take the tickets, but in truth we both knew the answer to that. This was the no-brainer of all no-brainers. Justin's love affair with Elmo is indescribable... and not taking him to see this show would be tantamount to a crime in at least 42 States. And so despite every reason to say "thanks but no thanks", we were officially on our way to meet a furry red superstar.



In short, it was incredible. To simply say that Justin loved it would be equivalent to saying that the Sun is hot. The look on his face when Elmo, Big Bird and the rest of the gang showed up larger than life was priceless. Our inside joke was that this was the 2-year-old equivalent of meeting Jesus. Justin was so awestruck and overwhelmed that he just sat in frozen silence, with "the chills" to the point of teeth chattering (no exaggeration), for the first 20 minutes of the show. But it was obvious that it wasn't fear... it was just the most sincere combination of excitement and bewilderment that you'll ever see. Like I said, priceless. And so, Charlette and Shawn, we thank you guys for thinking of us. Because that outing was definitely one to remember.