"Apunzel", "Melmo" & "Strawberry Core-cake"

Chapter 6 – “Apunzel”, “Melmo” and “Strawberry Core-cake”

The subjects of a few funny stories would be any number of dolls and toys that Lily brings onto the bus with her every day, all beautifully mispronounced as the title suggests, but a little girl learning how to talk.  Elmo (“Melmo”) made the trip dozens of times, and has been thrown at strangers on several occasions.  One time Lily kept throwing Elmo on the ground and I kept picking him up and handing him back to her (yes, basically she was playing “fetch” with me).  After about the 4^th time, the guy next to me picked Elmo up and said, in a heavy Russian accent “stop manipulating your mother”.  But before he handed him back to Lily, he proceeded to rock Elmo like a baby (complete with shushing sounds), which may sound a little creepy, but was actually kind of cute and it made Lily laugh.  Tickle Me, Melmo.

A girl that sat next to us one time was a little too excited to see the Little Mermaid dolls that Lily brought with her one day (she had two with her that morning, one mermaid version and one post-mermaid princess version, sans tail – oooops Spoiler Alert!!)  She asked Lily about a dozen questions about the movie, the characters, the songs, etc. and then would answer her own questions while Lily just stared at her, looking confused at best.  She was about 2 years old at the time and not prepared to match the fast-paced and excited dialogue of this 20-something sounding like she was mid-way through her 3^rd starbucks of the morning.  But either way, the girl seemed a bit happier when she got off the bus then when she got on, so I guess Lily cheered up her morning a little bit. (or the dolls did, anyway)

There were many mornings of various Disney Princess Dolls and Strawberry Shortcake Dolls, and they would often perform concerts on her lap or the back of the seat.  One of her favorite songs that she made up “Strawberry Core Cake, She’s Got Nothin’ on Us” was a daily staple for a while, not to mention a crowd-pleaser.  It was catchy and I admit, much better than any song I ever made up.  Lately she’s playing out an on-going drama where Tiana and Rapunzel have a big fight and break up just before they are about to get married.  I hope she moves on from this cliffhanger soon, as I’m dying to see what happens next.

Lily’s princess dolls were the subjects of one of my favorite encounters with a stranger on the bus.  One morning she was playing with them on her lap and the lady next to me made a comment about her playing with dolls and wearing all pink.  She said that when she was raising her daughters in the 70’s she was told not to force such girly things on them.  She said she dressed them in overalls, never let them wear pink, never put bows in their hair. (I’m picturing two angry little scarecrows with heavy bangs sitting alone at the lunch table) She then went on to talk about the evils of Barbie dolls and why little girls should not play with them.  I didn’t want to get technical with her, even as I was being accused of “forcing” pink and pretty princess things on my daughter (which I’m pretty sure I never did), but I had to tell her that the dolls Lily was playing with were not actually “Barbies”, they were Disney princesses.  And the lady then said, “Oh, well then that makes sense, because I noticed that this one’s breasts are kinda small” – (in case it matters, she was referring to Rapunzel, apparently she felt that Belle and Cinderella were more blessed in that arena, as she directed no similar insults their way).  

I have no idea what her point was, or why that “made sense” to her, I was just super amused by her comments and wondered to myself if her overall-wearing daughters still speak to her.