It all started over a plate of lasagna. Little Chirp was chowing down, and he said, “Mommy, I love lasagna,” pronouncing the word love with a bit of a w sound.
I asked, “Do you know who else loves lasagna?”
“You!” Little Chirp and Brainy Bird both exclaimed.
“Well that is true, but Garfield is famous for his affections for lasagna,” I said.
“Who is Garfield?” Little Chirp asked. Really? I thought to myself. My child does not know who Garfield is? He was one of my favorite fictional characters growing up.
“Was he a Muppet?” Brainy Bird inquired. Wow, am I failing my kids in the world of animated pop culture?
This led to a game, in which I named a fictional character, and the two of them told me if they knew the character or not. I started with Mickey Mouse. Big B knew of the famous rodent. I could not tell if Little B remember him from Disney World, or was just playing along with what his brother said. Next, was Pluto. They both knew that Pluto is a dog. Neither of them knew that he was friends with Mickey Mouse.
I then told Brainy Bird that I would give him a dollar in his savings account for every Muppet that he can name. Without pause he named Miss Piggy and Animal. For about a second I thought that I was about to paying a hefty fine for my challenge, he relieved that concern with, “Herbert the frog, oh and Bert!”
I tried not to laugh. I told him that the frog’s name wasn’t Herbert. He knew a lot about old Kermie, but couldn’t come up with his name. Then there was the matter of Bert…
I explained that Bert was on Sesame Street. We then flipped over to Sesame Street characters. Of course, Elmo was the first that he named. I have never liked how that squeaky voiced character talking about himself in the third person got so famous. This annoyance vanished with the naming of Grover next. Grover was always my favorite. He also named Big Bird, before Little Chirp asked if Big B would take him to the potty. As he got up to escort his little brother to take a pee, Brainy Bird said, “Oh, and what is the one with the hard to say name?”
“Snufalufagus?” I asked, “Huh?” Brainy Bird looked at me in bewilderment.
When they returned, Brainy Bird wanted to add “Snotalotugus” to his list of Sesame Street characters and he knew there was a green one that lives in a trash can, but he could not remember his name. I prompted him to name Bert’s side kick, and he came up with Rubber Ducky. He never did come up with Ernie.
We had quite a laughable time furthering our discussion of fictional characters from my childhood. It is strange to me that characters that everyone knew 30 years ago, when I was tuned into Sesame Street everyday after school are not so well known now.
Brainy Bird topped the night off on the car ride home with, “Dude, now I have that Sesame Street song stuck in my head.”
I began to sing, “Sunny day, everything is a-okay, can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street…” Brainy Bird cut me off saying, “that’s not it.”
“Dear, I never get the words right to any song, why are you stopping me tonight?” I asked.
“That isn’t even the right song mom. The Sesame Street song is something like – Rubber Ducky Your the One….”