On the “Journey to Ernie” segments:
Mr. Sandwich: Oh, my God–Ernie is Dr. Who! He’s psychotic, and he’s a master of space and time!
I love this guy so awesomely much.
Photo by xdianicx, via Flickr.
Tag: Ernie
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It’s Not Easy Being Rapunzel
Baguette has long been obsessed with my hair. She plays with it, pulls on it, hangs from it. At the salon, I have to ask my hairstylist to rinse out as much of the color as humanly possible–because Baguette chews on my hair.
I thought, “Maybe if I buy her a doll, she can use its hair instead.” So I went to Toys R Us (which gives me the same sensory-overload migraine that I get at IKEA) and bought her the doll with the longest hair I could find.
She barely acknowledges that doll.
She loves Elmo, so her grandpa bought her an Elmo doll. She didn’t care. I bought her Ernie and Bert, and she didn’t care. She’ll point at them, name them, and move them out of her way.
She has a slight affection for her blanket, which she likes to take in the car on the way to day care.
But what she really wants is my hair. Apparently that’s her lovey, and there is no substitute.
Recently she discovered the comb. We’ve been using it on her hair, of course, but she learned to say the word. When we get home at the end of the day, she wants me to sit down so that she can stand behind me and comb my hair. She takes the comb to bed. Her first utterance this morning was “Comb.”
I want to cut my hair short, but I’m going to wait. Right now it would be too traumatic. But not for me. For Baguette.
Photo by Brett Jordan, via Flickr.
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A Grownup, On Sesame Street
Let me start with this: I still love it. I’m a little bewildered by the monsters they’ve introduced in the past two decades (who is the blue monster with long, ratty yellow hair? I need a wiki that is photo-based rather than name-based), but I totally get why this was my mom’s favorite kid’s show. And I’m enjoying the chance to see Baguette discover new characters she recognizes and loves–Elmo’s her favorite, but not the only one she’ll watch now.
However, there’s one set of characters on whom I’ve done a 180:
That’s right, Bert and Ernie.
When I was little, Ernie was happy and fun, and Bert was grouchy and glum. As an adult, I have a much better understanding of Bert. It’s clear that he’s grouchy and glum because Ernie, while upbeat, is also batshit crazy. Bert wants to sleep? Ernie’s playing a trumpet. Bert wants to read? Ernie’s clucking like a chicken and hanging from the ceiling like a monkey.
So as Mr. Sandwich and I sit with Baguette and watch Sesame Street, we can’t help but come up with reasons why we’d rather be roommates with Bert than with Ernie. Sure, Bert’s square. But consider what that means in a real-world roommate:
- Bert takes out the trash.
- Bert cleans the lint out of the dryer.
- Bert knows how to use a plunger.
- Bert doesn’t leave dishes sitting around for days.
- Bert makes sure you get your mail and your phone messages.
- Bert pays his half of the rent on time.
Ernie? Ernie lets lions into the house.