Elf

Have you seen the movie Elf? If not, I highly recommend it. It's one of Will Ferrell's best movies, and that's saying a lot, in my opinion. Why am I talking about a Christmas movie in March? Well, there's a scene in the movie where he finds used gum stuck to a handrail and he enjoys several pieces of it.

Today, after gymnastics we had a play date with a couple of our friends from class at McDonald's. Hana was MIA for a bit towards the end, which I found odd. The place had really emptied out, so I didn't think there was another kid for her to be playing with up in the tunnels and her two friends were munching some of their own unfinished food. It wasn't a panicked situation or anything, it just struck me as odd that she was up in the tunnels alone.

Our friends were getting ready to leave so they yelled for her and she came down to tell them goodbye and we got ready to leave ourselves. We put her shoes on, I held her hand as we left and we got in the car. I strapped her in her car seat and got in the driver's seat. I then returned a call from Victoria as I sat in my parking spot. Eventually we left McDonald's and drove across the street (pretty much) to Tom Thumb where I needed to pick up a couple things.

Once parked at Tom Thumb, I turned around to talk to Hana and noticed she was stringing something white between her index finger and her thumb. I really had no idea what it could be. "What is that?" I asked, to which she replied, "I won't tell you!" and did her best to hide her hand behind her back while still buckled into her car seat. I asked over and over again and demanded she tell me as I got out of my seat and walked around to her side of the car for a closer examination. "What is it, Hana? Tell me now, please."

I don't know what I thought it was, but I was in no way prepared for what it really was. "Gum," she finally answered. "Where in the world did you get that?" I asked, and she answered "In the play area." (Oh my!) "Oh, Hana! That is very, very, very gross! Don't ever touch anything like that again, okay?" I took an antibacterial wipe out of my purse and began cleaning it from her fingers, hand and the car seat. Then it donned on me. (GASP!!!) "Did you put it in your mouth?" She saw the horror in my eyes and quickly answered no, but I made her open her mouth so I could check inside. All clear. Then I smelled her breath...And it was minty fresh. I literally gagged. Seriously. I stood there outside the van dry heaving, praying that I would not actually vomit the Southwest Chicken salad I had just enjoyed at McDonald's.

Needless to say, we had a very detailed conversation about not putting things in our mouth and why. Then I texted Joe my horrifying story and he simply responded, "Elf!" I better go now. I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.