Hurricane Hadley has a new best friend of whom I don’t approve. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not some snobby mom who doesn’t let her kid play with a certain sort of people. But this friend? Welp, he’s purple. And he’s a dinosaur, fer heaven’s sake. And he’s annoying as hell.
Yep, Hadley is obsessed with Barney–that very show I vowed I’d never expose her to. And I didn’t. He’s on after Sesame Street and I have made valiant efforts to drop whatever I’m doing and promptly terminate the TV when Elmo says his final good-byes.
The blame goes to Grandma who innocently introduced her, obviously not knowing the ramifications. Who could’ve known he would be the ONLY one in the whole world who could calm her down when she wakes up moody from her naps? Or that his love song to her at the end of the show “I love you, you love me,” could make her combust into a fountain of tears because she knows their time together is drawing to a close. Or that she would lay awake at night wondering what her offspring would look like if she and Barney ever had babies together.
After watching Barney the other day, we went to run some errands. For months now, I have been incessantly reciting 123s and ABCs wherever we go. She finally relented and said the number “1″ a few weeks ago (a major victory because she has stubbornly refused to say it). In addition to 1, she’d occasionally list off the occasional number just to shut me up. But really, her attentions have been focused on learning the alphabet. So when I was in the car with her, I turned my focus back to numbers as I attempted to teach her how to say she is “2 years old,” in honor of her birthday at the end of the month.
She gave me her typical teen-aged “Why are you bothering me, Mother,” look and then casually blurted out, “1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10.” I stopped, shocked. “Did you just count to 10, Hadley?” She repeated herself, this time throwing in the number 11 for good measure. Showoff.
I was practically jumping for joy! Finally, all those countless hours of teaching her, of slaving over her growth had finally paid off! I had a glimmer of hope that I was making at least some difference in her life! Bursting with pride, I wanted acknowledgment and gratitude for my efforts. “Hadley, who taught you to count to 10?”
“Barney!!!!!!!!”
Happy Mother’s Day, indeed.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 