I first met Miss Molly Mouse when my son, Alex, was 4 months old. Play Hooray, a group that provides entertainment for children through birthday parties and other venues, was running some sessions for babies at my local library. I was anxious to get out and meet other moms and provide stimulation for my 4 month old. He wasn't as interested in being stimulated. I still remember "Dancing Queen" blasting, maracas shaking, and Alex sleeping away in my lap.
The star of Play Hooray, however, is the puppet Molly Mouse. Molly has skirts for every holiday and season and she lives in a box that resembles the Dunkin' Donuts munchkin box. We discovered that an elderly mother of the Play Hooray entertainers hand sews all of Molly's skirts!
When my daughter, Megan, was born, I knew Molly Mouse would be in her future. I was back to work, so my mom would take Megan to her Play Hooray class. Here is Megan, a couple of years ago, enjoying her time:
For Megan's first Christmas, I knew we needed our own Molly Mouse to live at our house! Lucky for us, Molly was for sale, in addition to her munchkin box house and additional skirts for purchase. I bought her flag skirt, balloon skirt, ladybug skirt, Halloween skirt, Christmas skirt, autumn skirt, and heart skirt. Before Megan could talk, I knew how smart she was because I would just mention the name "Molly Mouse" and she would crawl away, determined, and come back holding Molly! For a while, Molly was Megan's favorite friend. In time however, she was replaced by the princesses, especially Elsa.
Alex and Molly have had their ups and downs. Molly has taken to calling him "Buster" which aggravates him to no end. When I say Molly is talking, please don't misunderstand- it is me talking, with Molly perched on my hand. My children fully believe that Molly is speaking and even ask me to tell her things, which is pretty hilarious, really.
Most recently, Molly has been providing lots of laughs by asking incessantly for cheese. One of the games Alex and Megan like to play is asking Molly what she wants and when she replies gleefully, "Cheese!" they laugh and try to find cheese for her. The game can go on and on. After a long, exhausting teaching day, there are times when the very last thing I want to do is put that mouse on my hand and make her beg for cheese. But, it does make them smile and laugh so mostly I do it. Alex has asked me to inform Molly Mouse that he does not like to be called Buster. Molly has since taken to calling Megan "Busterette" and to date, Megan has not issued a complaint.
I never thought a stuffed mouse would be so near and dear to my heart and hold so many memories but Molly Mouse has become a fixture at our house with her sassy skirts and cheese loving ways!
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