Mark of Fridays: Mommy Elmo

Mommy Elmo is Mark's favorite Guy.  All of the other Guys - Murray, Grover, Knuffle Bunny, and Baby Elmo - are required to be in the bed if Mark is going to do any sleeping.  He talks to them, sings them songs, and tells them stories (sometimes for hours) as he's falling asleep.  If a Guy falls (or jumps) out of bed in the process, Mark yells until Mommy or Daddy comes in to retrieve him.

From left to right: Mommy Elmo, Mark, Baby Elmo

But Mommy Elmo (so named because she's bigger than, and is clearly the mommy of Baby Elmo) is special. Mark sleeps with her tucked under him, as if he's afraid she'll escape. And if we let him, he takes her everywhere: in the sandbox, down slides, to the zoo.

Needless to say, Mommy Elmo is very dirty.  Her fur is matted and brownish.  Her eyes - once white - are gray. 

She's so gross that strangers comment on her.  They tell their children not to touch - that Elmo is so dirty.  One mother asked if Mommy Elmo was a hand-me-down, in disbelief that Mark could've done so much damage to her in his short, toddler lifetime.

But we can't wrestle her off Mark for long enough to give her a bath.  Plus, he says, Mommy Elmo is afraid of the dryer.

Then, on Monday night, Mommy Elmo was forgotten at Grandma's.  Matt packed her in Mark's bag for the day, then Lynne left the bag at Grandma's house.  We realized our mistake at bedtime, when Mark said she was missing.


Mark and Mommy Elmo, participating
in one of the activities that
made her prematurely gray.


We searched the house, hoping she was hiding somewhere.  No dice.

We told Mark that all of the other Guys could keep him company, just this once.  He wailed.

Lynne said that Mommy Elmo had asked to sleepover at Grandma's because Grandma needed a Guy to snuggle.  He screamed 'No!', kicked, screamed, and cried. 

"Tell Grandma to bring her here!" he yelled.

Matt told Mark an elaborate story about his own favorite toy, Humpty Dumpty, and how he sometimes let Humpty stay with Aunt Megan when she was a little girl. 

"So she won't be alone?"  Mark asked, tears welled up in his eyes. Yes, just like Mommy Elmo was helping Grandma to not be alone. Then Mark cried that he was alone and wanted Mommy Elmo right now.

By this point it was clear that Mark would not go to sleep without Mommy Elmo.  Lynne called Grandma and arranged to meet up, so we could bring Mommy Elmo home.  The Mommy Elmo hand-off was done in a Walgreens parking lot.  It took 20 minutes, round trip.

Mark was still awake when Lynne got home, talking away. 

"Mommy Elmo!" he said.  He did a deep sigh, then tucked Mommy Elmo underneath him.  "Now I am happy." 

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"Did you really share Humpty with your sister when you were a kid?" Lynne asked, when she got back downstairs.

"No way," Matt replied.  "But he doesn't know that."