Retrospective: an occasional series

This is something I wrote a few years ago. It was for my original blog that never really got off the ground. I had good intentions. Whatever. I picked over some of the stuff and thought I'd recycle it here on Kingdom of Days when the moods strikes me. I like this one and it's nice to remember what was going on back then. 

This is from November 2008. 

Right now, I'm wondering where the heck Dorothy Gale is. And why she is taking her sweet time getting here. Yes, that Dorothy Gale. The one from Oz via Kansas. There is a 3 year old child here breaking his heart over the fact that this girl and her little dog too have not come over to play.

William is absolutely fixated on Dorothy. It started out being cute. He's been watching the Wizard of Oz for a while now and loves it. Which is great because it's my all time favorite movie. He has all the Madame Alexander characters they were giving away with Happy Meals a while back. Although we ordered most of them from Amazon. Since Happy Meals are the work of the devil. 

Recently he started asking for a Dorothy doll that 'takes her shoes and socks off'. No amount of explaining that these things are hard to come by (ie. impossible) would cut it. So we're looking for that non existent doll every place we go.

And then I think William had a dream that Dorothy came over to play. In his world, there is no difference between a dream and reality. He just woke up one day and told me Dorothy had been over. And he wanted to know when she would come again.

For three days now, every little thing is about Dorothy. What would Dorothy think of this? What would Dorothy say about that? Would Dorothy like to eat this? Could I share this with Dorothy? What does Dorothy say when she goes to the doctor? Is Dorothy ticklish? Can Dorothy come to Thanksgiving dinner with us? Does Dorothy like crystals? Will Dorothy be here to help us put up the Christmas tree?

So yeah, it's cute. Until it starts breaking your heart. Tonight, we were in a department store in the toy section. 'Maybe there'll be a Dorothy dolly here that takes off her shoes and socks?' he says, so hopeful.

Then William stops a woman and asks her if she's seen Dorothy. She looks at him blankly. 'Dorothy Gale', I fill in helpfully. 'Yeah, Dorothy Gale is her name!' William says. 'Have you seen her?'

'You mean Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz?' the woman asks.
'Yes! That's her!' William says. 'Have you seen her?'
The woman is kind and she plays along. 'No, I don't really think she's from around here but if I see her I will tell her you are looking for her.'

We go to California Tortilla for dinner and while I'm ordering William's burrito, he tells the clerk we need an extra burrito... for Dorothy. I shake my head at her. No extra burrito.

'But Dorothy is hungry! And she might be here soon!' All through our dinner, William asks when Dorothy is coming. 'If she comes, ' I say, 'I promise I will buy her a burrito.'

I swear my heart is about to break. I don't want to tell him she is not real. Much less go into that whole Judy Garland thing. He is three years old. He has such a wonderful, vivid imagination. I know kids have imaginary friends but this is somehow different. Normally, the kid with the friend can see the friend, and no one else can. In this version, the kid is waiting for the friend to show up and the friend is not only not coming, but the kid can't understand why.

So Dorothy Gale, if you're out there somewhere, it would be great if you could take a side trip off your little yellow brick road and stop by to play with my child.

Eventually, we did find a Dorothy that takes off her shoes and socks. Here she is pictured with a few of her friends and without her shoes and socks. Actually, don't know where the shoes and socks are.