Thank you, Rev. W. Awdry

We owe this man a huge debt of gratitude. Who is this white-haired Englishman, you ask? He is Rev. W. Awdry, the creator of this "cheeky little engine":

He is lovingly referred to by Betsy as "Ma-mas"---Thomas the Tank Engine. And for some reason he is better than ice cream and Santa and the first warm day of spring combined to our little gal. From a box of band-aids at Target to a tiny card with his picture on it she will find him and yell with joy, "I see Ma-mas!"

And so, as we were anticipating an upcoming night out and a babysitter for Betsy (which means much wailing and gnashing of teeth for us all--separation anxiety has hit hard) we devised a plan. And that plan was bribery.

While on a trip to Walgreens I found a Thomas beginners train set. A track, tunnel, and a little wind up Thomas...on sale! I initially picked it up just because I'm a sucker for my cute little girl and I knew she would love it. But as I drove home I thought that I might have found a way to remedy the weeping we always have to endure when leaving her with a babysitter.

So I brought it home and hid it and then told Myron the plan. After 10 years of marriage we are completely on the same wavelength. He had just been thinking that we should get something "Ma-mas" related that only comes out when a babysitter comes!

So, Friday night comes. Our friend Heidi shows up to watch Betsy. Thankfully we had seen Heidi earlier in the week for a lunch date and so Betsy didn't immediately begin to freak out when she saw Heidi as she has done in the past.

Just as we are preparing to walk out the door out comes the Thomas box. I wish I had been filming. It was priceless. Betsy took the box (which was nearly as tall as her) from Myron with eyes full of awe and gasped, "It's Ma-mas!" Heidi told her to bring it on over and they would open it together. She ran over, handed it to Heidi and sat right down. She didn't even look back at us as we went out the door and she played happily with it for the rest of the evening without a whimper!

Thank you, God for the inspiration and Rev. W. Awdry for Ma-Mas!!