Week of July 9, 2003
"I want Henry and the Elephant!"
In Owenspeak, that's "I want Hah en El."Owen has been obsessed with a particular Thomas story, "Henry and the Elephant." It's on a tape that lives at Scott's parent's house, and we purposely let him see it only there, to keep it special. When we got back from our last Bernardston visit on the 4th of July, Owen begged for the story, again and again and again. "Hah El, Hah El." We thought we had a spare copy of "Gallant Old Engine," but alas it's gone missing. We searched every where, no luck. Scott hopped online to search for the story, hoping it might exist on a tape we hadn't noticed. Success, we were grateful. "Ten Years of Thomas" held our salvation, though this tape is my least favorite in the Thomas series. In between the stories they have painful interviews with child-fans at Strasbourg, PA. Whoever edited these children must have been chortling maniacally. You try to find the sweetness, but mostly it's painful. I'm not even sure Owen likes the interviews in between the stories, since he's always begging us to rewind to the story as soon as Henry and the Elephant finishes. On the "good" tape, he's willing to sit through the stories that follow.
I digress.
The story of Henry and the Elephant is thus: A circus is in town, the trains are excited. Henry (a Green Engine) is chosen to carry workman who are to clear a blockage from a tunnel. The blockage is alive! Henry goes in to push the block out, and instead he is pushed out by a large, cross elephant who has escaped from the circus. The elephant is fed cake, sandwiches and water, and when startled, accidentally sprays water on to Henry. They call his keeper who takes him a way. Henry feels ill used.
Bump. Oh Dear. Whoosh. Poor Henry.
These are the phrases that are endlessly repeated by Owen, when he's not saying "Hah! El!" When he's not able to watch the video, he hands us his Big Compendium of Thomas stories, and wants us to read it to him. Video. Book. Pleas for both. Endlessly making comments to himself. Scott and I take turns with the reading, since we're starting to go insane with the repetition. All day long Owen will say to himself. "Whoosh!" And make elephant noises. And say "Oh dear" in a British voice, exactly the way it's said on the Play-a-Sound Peter Rabbit book that we have.
It's adorable, and yet a bit horrifying. I had no idea he could fixate this way, and while I'm grateful it's on something cute and relatively benign, Scott and I blanch at the thought of fixations gone bad. While we wouldn't presume to choose his fixations, I fear we won't always be lucky enough to have it be Henry and the Elephant. Then again, who knew just a few years ago that I would become the Thomas the Tank Engine expert that I am today.
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