In the midst of all the packing and preparing, I made sure I had matching bright shirts for the boys to wear each day. The color I was going for was "Construction Worker Orange"...you know, to spot them in a crowd of people, in case they somehow escaped their strollers and started running a muck. Plus, I have watched The News one too many times.
The other thing I made sure to bring was a fluffy blue bunny who goes by the name of "MeMe".
If I had to choose between packing my underwear and packing MeMe, I would choose to pack MeMe. That is how important this bunny is for the good of the family, the nation, and possibly, um, the world.
You see, MeMe is Sheldon's special bunny. He takes him everywhere. He sleeps with him. He cries dramatically if he sees me toss the thing into the wash.
It is not uncommon to see Sheldon walking around the house with a thumb in his mouth and a MeMe ear by his nose.
MeMe gets so much love, he needs a good washing once a day. Being the balanced mother I am, I let MeMe get really stinky...it takes about a week. Sheldon has a favorite bunny ear that he sucks on, until it gets a nice, smelly, smell. I know it's time to wash MeMe when Quinten starts to say, "No! I don't want to sit by Sheldon. Sheldon, your MeMe stinks! Why you want a stinky MeMe?!"
Here is Sheldon on a recent trip to the beach...with his MeMe:
The point is, MeMe had to go to Disneyland. So, right after I purchased Electric Orange shirts in sizes 4T and 24mos, I threw MeMe in the wash.
He came out fluffy...with a gash in his chest.
MeMe was damaged.
MeMe was going to Disneyland.
However, since he was a bit worse for the wear, and because I hadn't purchased an Electric Orange shirt in MeMe's size (we wouldn't want to lose HIM!), we decided that he had to stay in the hotel room.
I didn't understand the repercussions this decision would have.
Facing a loud, bright, musical new world without his MeMe, while fighting a head cold, proved to be a strain on Sheldon. His solution? Make Mommy his new MeMe.
He would only let me push him in his stroller. He would only let me hold him. He would only ride the rides where he got to sit on my lap. I tried to take him on the carousel and he flipped out, tried to leap off his noble steed and screamed hysterically.
Standing next to him was not an option, he needed to be attached to me. Luckily I was able to exit the carousel before the ride started, or else I would have ended up riding in circles while wrestling a 20 month old perched on a giant plastic horse.
Here is a picture of Shel when we foolishly put him on a ride with Daddy.
He started screaming and crying hysterically soon after this picture was taken...which makes sense considering he was on a caterpillar train that drove around giant pieces of fake food.
