Flat Eric

The whole of last week has been somewhat surreal but something made me think of this memory the other day.
Few years ago, I was looking after two girls, Emily and Miriam ( Em and Miri for short). They were cousins and their birthdays were only a week apart, both Leos but totally different from each other.
Miri was more of a happy go lucky person, lithe in appearance and with a sweet, easy going disposition, and Em was fiery and determined, stubborn to the end.
They got along relatively well due to Em's imagination that took them on many naughty adventures and Miri's tolerant nature.
All until the day that I disturbed that balance. What did I do?

Emily loved smiley faces when she was a baby. She had a stern expression and it took ages to make her smile but she had a few things that would make her chuckle like mad. One was these three bath toys, a red whale, blue seal and yellow polar bear. All three with grinning faces. She would sit in the bath and watch them for a bit and then smile and laugh just looking at them, as if there was a private joke she shared with the three of them that no one else was privy to. Like a member's club.


And she loves Flat Eric, this yellow puppet that advertised Levi's. I think he even had a video our.

Eric had this big mouth that was red, his grin amazing in its grotesque way.
Emily shunned other toys and bestowed her affections on Eric.
Eric had round yellow body and gangly arms and legs that were totally unproportionate but made him look all the more unique and sweet.

Anyway, one day I decided that it might be a good idea to dress Flat Eric in a baby-gro. Usual teddy bears just don`t fit well, their arms and legs too short for such an attire, they usually look rather stupid and totally unauthentic, not resembling a baby at all. But Eric had a flare and he could just carry it off.
I was not aware what that would do to a child's world.


Eric suddenly became the toy of the century, was a prime toy throughout the day, wearing his blue, stripy baby-gro, he looked cool.

Em would put him in a pram, she carried him, fed him wooden blocks and lego, she attended to his thirst with her own morning milk and she would not let him out of her sight.
Miri also took a shine to Eric, enchanted by something that so closely resembled a real baby, and this caused big jealousy and few really ugly exchanges.

I never thought that 18 month olds could be this viciously determined to get what they desire.
Em would stake her ownership of Eric and in the beginning it looked as if Miri accepted the deal but Em could not have her watchful eye on Eric at all times and in such moments where she would slip up, Miri would steal Eric, place him in a baby buggy and start running like crazy.
Em would get mad and set after her and they would run to the dining room, which had this large table and smooth tiles on the floor and Em would chase Miri round the table.
Miri was agile and had the speed, but Em had the strength to kill a small animal but sadly was not as quick. This chase would last a best part of an hour. Neither of them would think of any strategies as to how to outsmart the other, maybe suddenly turning in the opposite direction or even giving up.
I am sure Miri didn't get any satisfaction in wheeling Eric like a lunatic around the dining room table...but neither of them would back down.
Eventually Miri decided that the chase was futile and she made a run for the living room.
Once cornered by the fireplace, Em attacked her and I had to break up the fight which ended in Emily banging Miri's head on the floor, whilst sitting on top of her.

Eric was confiscated and promptly stripped of his seductive clothing.
And hidden away.
Forever.