Jennifer

The other night, my son told me he missed Mrs Piggy. “The muppet, I asked?” “No,” he said, “the washcloth that used to talk funny.”

I scratched my head for a minute. I had no idea what he was talking about. Then I remembered. When the kids were really little I had picked up a silly little washcloth in the bin of a discount store. It was shaped like a pig with one eye outlined in a white circle. It’s other eye was rather plain.

I brought the washcloth home, gave it a completely unoriginal name and a home in the hall closet. During bath time, I’d grab the pig shaped washcloth, apply some soap and start scrubbing the kids, saying things like, “Oh I do looooove germs! Let me eat them allllll up!” in a terrible attempt at a British accent.The kids would giggle, then off to bed they’d go.

Over the years, Mrs Piggy would come and go. The kids would ask for her. Some nights I obliged them. Others, I found myself too tired or uninspired to break out the impression. As the kids grew older, they asked for Mrs Piggy less and less. So, it was a bit of a shock that my son asked for it, seemingly out of the blue. I hadn’t even realized that he’d remember that time. But oh, did he ever.

The rest of the evening was spent practicing our terrible accents. The towel became Mr. Towely, the footman of Dryington Abbey (What can I say? I like to keep my references topical), the brush became Mrs.

Bristly, whose duty it was to comb out the tangles of her  ladyship’s hair.

It was all rather ridiculous. And I’m not ashamed to admit we all laughed like kids.

The moment could have passed so easily by without my understanding the impact it had on my kids. It was just silly, but based on my son recalling a character I made up some years back with great clarity, I know it meant something to the kids.

I have no doubt that in years to come, one day my son will say to me, “Mom, remember the cast of characters from Dryington Abbey? I kind of miss them.”