Waffles and Elmo Took Over My Toddler’s Life

And this is how we’re coping with it.

I’ve always said I’ll respect my son’s interests because my parents never did. Throughout my childhood, I heard on repeat that The Sims were dumb or Spongebob was annoying.

Because of my parents’ reactions to the things I liked, I was afraid to tell anyone what I liked. I had a fascination with pregnancy and childbirth when I was little. When no one was around, I watched birthing videos on TLC. The minute my mom walked into the room, I would quickly change the channel. When I was four years old, I pretended to be pregnant, and my mother scolded me for this innocent pretend play.

I never felt like I could become my authentic self in front of others. In my child-like mind, if my parents thought my interests were dumb, everyone else must too.

I’ve always promised to never do that to my child, no matter how crazy or silly I thought his interests were. He deserves for his home to be a safe place to enjoy what he loves in life.

And, at this stage in his life, his two most loves in life are Elmo and waffles. A few days ago, I encountered a viral video that accurately describes my son’s love of waffles.

We’ve reached the point where we, like the Mom in the video, have had to stand our ground and be parents. It hasn’t been easy. Let me share what one Sunday looked like in my house.

A Sunday Morning in My House

Sundays are family days. The boys sleep in late, and when I’m feeling up for it, I wake up early and write. Sometimes, like this particular morning, I woke up and watched a couple of episodes of New Amsterdam — my current Netflix binge — before the boys woke up.

I stroll down the hallway to check on my son around nine. He’s usually starting to stir by now. I see him sitting in his crib, and his Elmo stuffed animal is on the floor. I don’t know why, but he always throws Elmo out of his crib in the morning.

He points at his green dinosaur nightlight and exclaims, “Out!” He wants to be with Elmo outside his crib, and he wants me to turn off the nightlight.

I smile at my child, and say, “Do you want out?”

“OUT!” he demands, and I turn off the light and reach into the crib to pick up my big boy.

We stroll across the hall, and I say, “Are you hungry?”

“Eat food!” he replies — that’s a yes.

“What do you want for breakfast?”

“Waffles!” he exclaims as I lay him on his changing pad to change his diapers.

I smirk. He had waffles for breakfast yesterday, and he asked for them for dinner, too, but I told him he had to eat something else (macaroni and cheese).

“You had waffles yesterday,” I tell him. “What about eggs?”

“Eh,” he grunts. I know he’ll probably eat eggs if I make them, so I decide we’ll have eggs and toast for breakfast.

I change his diaper, help him brush his teeth, and dress him in a matching burgundy shirt and pants. Next, he wants me to carry him.

“I have to feed the kitties first. Should we feed the kitties?”

“Kitty!” he exclaims. Lately, he’s been getting super excited to help feed the cats. So, I set him down for a moment, and I feed the cats in the laundry room. Then I pick him back up, and we head downstairs.

My mother-in-law, who lives with us, comes up shortly after and helps entertain my son while I make breakfast.

“Elmo!” my son exclaims, pointing to the television.

“I don’t think Daddy wants to watch Elmo all day again today,” my mother-in-law says because that’s exactly what my son and husband did all day Saturday. We’ve all been battling a couple of viruses around our house, so we took Saturday as a lounge day, and that meant Elmo was on TV all day.

My husband has been more stingy with my son’s Elmo addiction than I have. While I aim to encourage his interests, my husband tries to encourage him to take a break from them.

I understand where he’s coming from because it’s good for him to do other activities besides watching Elmo all day (even if it makes him happy). When he’s not watching Elmo, he’s often reading Elmo-related books, playing with his Elmo stuffed animals, or playing with his Sesame Street cars.

I finish making the eggs and toast, then serve my son his plate of food. To my surprise, he eats every bite and asks for more. I give him more eggs, which he also devours. He’s still asking for more when my husband comes down finally and is about to finish up all the eggs.

“It’s important to share,” his dad reminds him.

“Eat food!” my son insists. “Waffles!”

“Why don’t you warm up the waffle in the freezer from yesterday?” my husband suggests.

I’m hesitant since our child has already eaten two servings of eggs and toast. Plus, he ate waffles yesterday. Our son is still demanding more food, so I heat the waffle.

I give him the waffle, and of course, he’s elated. He eats every bite, and then he’s ready to get out of his high chair.

“Elmo?” he asks, pointing at the television.

“Let’s go play,” the adults in the house probe him, and he agrees to play. with his toys. He plays with his cars, then he spends some time scribbling in a Pokémon coloring book he got for Christmas.

Magically, we made it to naptime without watching Elmo.

As a parent, I’m learning that it’s important to encourage your children’s interests, but it’s also important to encourage them to do other things as well. Especially when one of those obsessions involves screen time.

As a mom, I don’t want to see my child upset when I tell him “no,” but it’s possible to redirect your kiddos if you find the other things they enjoy. In my child’s case, it’s cars. Cars always will sidetrack him for at least a little bit.

I think Elmo is adorable, and there are worse characters my kid could be obsessed with (like Blippi, who my nephew loves — my poor sister).

My son was Elmo for Halloween, and I never imagined his costume would become an obsession. He still loves wearing his Elmo Halloween costume.

What’s funny is he seemed bored of Elmo after Halloween, and then sometime after Thanksgiving his obsession went full force.

I Support My Child’s Interests in a Healthy Way

There’s a fine line between criticizing your child’s interests and temporarily redirecting them. I’ll never utter the words, “Elmo is annoying” or “Elmo is dumb.”

We always tell him that he can watch Elmo before bed. Our routine goes like this:

• Read a book
• Change into pajamas and brush his teeth
• Watch Elmo
• Bedtime

While I wish Elmo and books were flipped, books get him too excited and TV calms him down. So, this routine works for us.

As for waffles, I’m not sure we’ll be able to redirect him from those any time soon.

Well, waffles are pretty great.

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