Gonna have to face it, you're addicted to....

Elmo!

Monkey is addicted to Elmo. I mean, wh

at is it about this monster? Isn't he just a red Grover?

Whatever it is, it has supplanted all other desires....Monkey will forgo just about anything, including cookies, in order to watch Elmo.

She has even started singing the welcome to Elmo's world song...and saying "mo?" while running down the hall to bang on the door and beg for access to the computer (so she can see Elmo at www.sesamestreet.org)

It's baby crack.

We didn't want to face the truth, and laughed it off as a phase. But then, reality hit. I knew we needed to stage an intervention when Monkey starting waving and saying "hi" to her pampers diaper....because it has Elmo's face on it.

Is it too early to check her into Promises? To you know, face her addiction and start on her twelve steps?

I know, I know.....at least it isn't Barney, right?

Twelve Steps

Monkey is addicted to her pacifier. All the parents in the room nod and say, mmm hmm, yes we've seen that before. And by "that" they mean a toddler's increased reliance upon and desire for their pacifier, their binky, their paci, their -insert pet name here- little gobbet of silicone and plastic that they adore.

Only our daughter? She has a problem. Here are two reasons why we think she needs an intervention:

One: She has secret stashes of pacifiers.
This weekend (she's teething, so we've been kind/pushovers and let her have it from time to time) we took the paci away since she was in a good mood, and she made a beeline to the stroller bag, stuck her hand in a pocket and fished another one out. She popped it into her mouth and toddled away in her Frankenstein's monster waddle, humming away and happy as can be. She even looked pleased with herself! She's like the alcoholic that stashes liquor bottles in the toilet, or behind the cereal....

Two: She is willing to stand still, tethered to her stroller, just to get in one more suck on that paci.
And I have the photos to prove it (will post once uploaded...promise). She will stand still, humming, with the pacifier in her mouth, tethered to her stroller for minutes at a time. And that is the equivalent of years in toddler time. Glaciers could roll on past her...

The pathos of it all. I'm just hoping that we can start on step one soon. Think there is a baby sign for "addiction"?