On the Job Training: Motherhood - The End of the Innocence

She turns 6 tomorrow, on Valentine's Day.

This morning she was watching Sesame Street while I was racing around getting everything together to leave. Elmo was doing his usual routine with Dorothy the goldfish. Dorothy is Elmo's alter-ego. He masks his questions as her questions. For example, "Dorothy wants to know how you brush your hair." Then, a few children will say, "Dorothy, this is how I brush my hair," as if they're speaking to the goldfish.


So, Annika said, "Dorothy doesn't really talk. Elmo just talks for her."

I said, "Really?"

"Yeah, and did you know everyone on Sesame Street are just puppets?"

I asked, "Did someone tell you or you figured it out?" I started wondering if I should change her bus so she doesn't get exposed to influence from big kids.

"I figured it out. They were singing, and when they finished, they went down like puppets."

My friends had said that 6 is an age of change and a sudden maturity. I didn't think it would be like this. Then how come we still had a meltdown last night before bed?

I have to mourn a bit for those days when Elmo and Ernie were real to her. However, I shouldn't mourn too long because those characters are so alive to adults. I didn't grow up with Elmo (only Bert, Ernie, Kermit and Miss Piggy), but watching Elmo movies with my daughter, I fell in love with him too. I've seen my husband chuckle at a few of Elmo's antics, and he did not grow up on Sesame Street.

I was at the Thanksgiving Day parade in NYC a few years ago. When the Sesame Street float passed by, I was waving to Maria and the gang as if they were old friends and celebrities!

Anyway, the number of the day was 6.