Alive in Wonderland

Stories of So-So: the fashion statement

 

So-So is my son's invisible friend. He is by FAR the most popular thing I write about. It seems everywhere I go people ask about him: What's up with So-So? I saw So-So at Disneyland today. Is So-So still married to LuLu? When Ben fell on the stairs and had to get four stitches, everyone instantly suspected foul play from So-So. If you haven't read any of his stories, you can catch up by reading them now....I'll wait.

  Stories of So-So: A friend you can't see is a friend indeed. Stories of So-So: The troublemaker who works at Disneyland. (Fingers tapping on table waiting...) Stories of So-So: It has been a hard week for the invisible people in our house. 

This latest story is related to the picture on the right. Ben had his friend Connor over last week and they were playing up in Ben's room. When they came downstairs, they were both wearing their shirts like--well, kind of in a Flashdance sort of style, with one arm poking through the neck hole, revealing one bare shoulder and arm. When I asked them why, they just shrugged and asked me for some apple juice. I figured it was okay with me if they wanted to show a little shoulder, no harm in that. Then yesterday Ben had his shirt like this again---all day. "Isn't that uncomfortable?" I asked, trying to get more information out of him. "No, super comfortable," he answered, obviously blowing me off. "What made you think to wear it like that?" I probed. "So-So wears his shirt like this," Ben said without looking up. "It's how all ghosts wear their shirts." So now So-So's a fashionista. A trend setter among the five-year-old crowd. Tim Gunn would NOT approve--or maybe he would just tell So-So to "carry on." When Larry, my husband, came home and saw Ben's shirt he motioned to me quietly, like "Now, what's this about?" I just mouthed back "So-So." 'Nuf said. Random So-So facts: He has a job making pizza in China, but still works part-time at the Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. His favorite song is Back in Black by AC/DC, because the man who's singing "sounds mean." He and LuLu had twins: JoJo and Crumble (?)

His brother, Knock-Knock, moved out and is now living at Chuck E. Cheese's inside a skee-ball game.

He came to Kay el Bar Ranch with us, but scared the horses and had to fly home after the first day.

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So-So gets married to Lou Lou

"Mom, where's my bow tie?" Ben asked me.  "So-So's getting married and he said I have to wear a tie."  

Emily was changing into her favorite dress in her room and found Ben's tie in with her necklaces and threw it at him.  "Hurry!" Ben shouts to his sister and runs back into his room.

"Who is So-So marrying?"  I asked, following him.

"His Lou Lou," he shrugged casually.

"Who's Lou Lou?" 

"She's his girlfriend," he tells me using his "Duh" tone.

"Oh, I see. What does she do?" I asked him, knowing this is going to be good.

"Nothing, she just sleeps in the hamper all day," he says, pointing at his (overflowing) hamper in his room.

Emily, who is now standing in the doorway listening gives her opinion, "I wouldn't EVER want to marry someone who sleeps all day." 

Whew! Good to know...

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Don't know who So-So is?  Read on...The Story of So-So.

So-So has been axed and other Disneyland news

 

It's been a tough week for the invisible people in our family. There's no way to sugarcoat this so I'm just going to come right out and tell you: So-So was fired from The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland for being "too scary." 

You'd think that being a frightening ghost who says "WhooWhoo HaaHaa" to the little kids would make him an asset to his employers. But, when you swoop down and pick up a little boy and fly him all over The Haunted Mansion and leave him at The Magic Shop on Main Street without telling his parents that's where he should be collected, well, you get your pink slip pretty fast.  

So-So has quickly recovered and now has an office job in Costa Mesa. He's the boss, but no one knows exactly what he does.  It has something that for sure involves making lots of copies and using a stapler. So, yep, he's a working hack now. A stuffed shirt.  In this economy he was lucky to find anything at all.

Coco, So-So's dog, broke his leg last Thursday and spent the entire day at the veterinarian. When he got home we realized he couldn't jump up onto the ceiling fan, where he sleeps. I volunteered to give him a boost, but Ben just laughed and said, "Mommy, Coco is too heavy for YOU." So Ben had to hoist him up using two swords and marshmallow shooter. 

The next head-spinning development is that Knock-Knock, So-So's brother, is now a girl. I didn't want to ask too many questions, so I just let that one go... 

If you haven't the slightest idea what I'm talking about, you can click on these stories below to fill you in on So-So, my son's invisible friend.

A friend you can't see is a friend indeed 

The Ghost in him

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In more positive Disneyland news, my family and I have been invited for a sneak peek at the "new magic" of It's a Small World. That means we will be one of the first people to ride the updated attraction before it opens to the public on February 6th.

 Go ahead. Pretend like you're happy for me (while deep down you are aflame with envy).  Leave comments saying how you hope I have a good time.  I know you mean, "I hope one of the can-can girls kicks you in the shin. "

The ghost in him

"So-So hates Sissy," Ben announces, breaking the silence in the car.  

"WHAT did you just say?"  I ask him, while eyeing him in the rearview mirror. Without backing down, wanting to make it perfectly clear, he says it again, "So-So hates Sissy."

 

If you don't remember, So-So is Ben's invisible--not to be interchanged with imaginary--friend. (You can read my first story about him here.)

"Ben! Don't say you hate your Sissy, that's mean," I tell him.

"I didn't say it, So-So did," he tells me with no hint of sarcasm then turns back to his Nintendo DS. 

"Pfft, tell So-So not to say that anymore," I tell him.

"He's not here right now, he's at work.  I'll tell him later," he says not looking up again.  

I think I know what's going on here. Ben is a follower by nature.  He goes along with everyone.  He's easy.  He is a bit his sister's crony and this role doesn't leave much room for protest.  So-So is his henchman.  His right-hand (invisible) man.

Later that day, while standing in the kitchen, Ben says, "So-So hates Sissy a lot." But this time to his Dad.  

"Well, So-So just better learn to get along with everyone in this house," Larry tells him.  

Quietly, matter of factly Ben says, "You're not in charge of So-So, I am."  

[Uh-Oh]

"Well, I'm in charge of you and so that means I'm in charge of So-So and as long as So-So lives under my roof he better mind the rules," Larry boomed, obviously peeved.

"He lives ON the roof," Ben says as he walks away.  "And he has a job now at The Haunted House at Disneyland. He could live there." 

He is a ghost after all. 

A friend you can't see is a friend indeed

My four-year-old son, Ben, has a new friend. His name is So-So. We all like him very much. He's imaginary. No, excuse me, he's INVISIBLE, not imaginary. I've been corrected a million times. I should have that straight. So-So is a ghost and he became my son's friend shortly after Halloween when Ben came downstairs and asked for breakfast for the both of them.

"Can you introduce me first to your imaginary invisible friend?" I asked, as I prepared Ben's oatmeal. "This is So-So, he loves oatmeal, just like me," he said as he pulled up a chair for him. I let So-So know right away that I'm the kind of mom who indulges her son's creative side. "Hello, So-So," I said as I bent down to shake his ghost hand, "I'm Mommy. Would you like some oatmeal?" Ben assured me he did.

Hmmm, invisible friend = invisible oatmeal. That was my thinking at least.

"There 'ya go So-So," I said as I set down a fresh bowl of pretend oatmeal. "Mommy! He wants real oatmeal!" Ben protested. "He's REAL!" So fine, I made So-So some oatmeal. Ben secretly ate out of both bowls, then declared they were both full and they headed upstairs to play in Ben's closet. (That's where ghosts like to play best.)

"I wonder how long I'm going to have to keep this up?" I thought to myself as I polished off the remaining oatmeal from the bowls. So-So went to school with Ben, to church, to the potty. They even slept together. "Give So-So a kiss good-night Mommy," Ben urges me. And every morning, two bowls of oatmeal. (Good thing I like oatmeal.)

Then one morning Ben pulled up two chairs, one for So-So and one for Knock-Knock-- his brother! Okay, I like to "nourish my son's creative side" (yada yada yada) just as much as any other mom, but three oatmeals? I think not.

"They can share," I said, and after much negotiation we all--all four of us--agreed: two oatmeals split into three bowls.

Kissing all three goodnight on Thanksgiving, Ben let me know that So-So and Knock-Knock's dog Coco was here to stay awhile. Yep! Extra dog food bowl! And their sister, TuTu, came as well. "When I asked how long the gang was going to stay, he said until he goes back to school. After that, it will just be So-So again.

So I packed up Knock-Knock, Coco, and TuTu on Sunday night and they were off to...wherever invisible ghosts and their dogs go. On Monday morning I pried my sleepy kids out of bed for school (after a week's vacation), and it turns out, So-So was far too tired to get up for breakfast.

Sitting at the breakfast table Ben had his favorite skeleton toy sitting in the chair next to him. "Skeleton, would you like some oatmeal?" I asked, I think, very hospitably. "MOMMY!" Ben screeched and rolled his eyes, "He's not real!"

Argh! Silly me!

Written for my blog at The Orange County Register: "Mommy's mind is not a toy."