Furry

So, Saturday night my nephew, "Furry", came over to hang out with Little Dog and me. Well, "hang out" as much as an 8 month old can.

Much preparation went into planning for this little get together. I even bought baby friendly junk food (something Gerber makes called Strawberry Banana puffs.) Everything was fine for the playing portion and eating portion of our evening. In fact, Furry brought some electronic toys that were kind of cool. Baby toys do much more now than they did when Little Dog was a pup! The toys he had were brightly coloured, but just kind of laid there waiting to be picked up or stacked or shoved into his mouth. Furry's toys, however, have blinking lights and make noises when you touch them. Some of them even come with claims that they will help him achieve Einstein-like genius!

One toy, in particular, was a stuffed ball with globe illustrations. When you touch a particular country it plays a little 4 line song about that country. Take England, for example: "Over in England... Put on a coat! And look for a reeeeeed fox!"

Now, I have no idea why you would have to put on a coat in England. Is it because of the rain?! And why is red fox there?! Is Redd Foxx even appropriate for for infants?!

I tried making up my own songs and singing them loudly drown out the pre programmed songs. I sang: "Over in England they have a Queen...And an outdated monarchyyyyyyyy!"

Furry's dad is British, so that might account for why he didn't appreciate this.

I pushed South Africa and sang a bit about apartheid.

No response.

I pushed Canada and sang about free health care for everyone and quickly segued into an impromptu Sweden song about generous maternity leave.

Furry threw the ball across the room and picked up a stuffed rabbit that started playing a classical piece.

I quit while I was ahead.