Too Much Popcorn Makes The Baby Go Barf.

   Today, we took Sophie to Disney's Rockin' On Ice.  Our Zipcar rental was perfectly convenient for getting us out to New Jersey's Izod Center.  From the moment we set foot in the door, Sophie was wide-eyed...taking it all in with "ooh" and "ahh" and "I love it" and "cuuuute."  The adorability factor was just off the charts.  Allow me to take you there for 30 seconds of cuteness.  Prepare yourself.

So...there's that.
I was surprised with a 15 minute intermission in the middle of a 90 minute show, however...I began to realize the rational as I set out for the potty and found myself in line clamoring for the Rapunzel braid and the light up toy septor.   The lights filled my eyes and I felt I had been brainwashed by some happy robot, as I fell in line behind all the other drone parents, waiting my turn to hand over the plastic and sign the paper.  I was under their spell.
Eric and Sophie were enjoying a bucket of popcorn, when I returned to our seats.  Sophie danced and sang and just generally enjoyed the second half of the show.  As the end drew near, I prepared our things to run out of the theatre.  Eric had to get back to midtown for his matinee, so we were in a time crunch.  Waving goodbye as the cast did their bows, we ran to the parking lot, buckled Sophie in and headed for the Lincoln Tunnel.
I turned and asked Sophie what her favorite part of the show was, to which she replied,"Dancing!"  I looked away for a second to tell Eric to keep right and when I turned back to Soph, this is what I found.


As our tiny car fell victim to the stop and start of the Lincoln Tunnel traffic, Sophie was jolted awake.  She groggily looked at me, muttered something, and grabbed at her chest.  Then, like a chunky, greenish, yellow waterfall...a straight gardenhose-like stream of barf streamed from the princess's mouth and filled her seat.  The spell was broken.
Jumping into the backseat, I assessed the situation.  I told her it was ok and mommy was cleaning it up. Got my trusty canister of wipes and began cleaning off her hands, coat and face.  There was no hope of getting it out of the seat in this moment.  I informed Eric that he would have to take us home, instead of us dropping him at the theatre as planned.  There was no way, I was going to drop off the zipcar and then walk 3 blocks home with a barfing toddler, a carseat, and our show swag.  When he pulled up to our building, I removed Sophie (still in her car seat- which was d-ripping with liquidized, semi-digested popcorn.)  Once we got upstairs, I left everything in the hallway, cleaned her up, and put her to bed.  Then came the daunting cast of washing the coat, clothes, and carseat crevices.  The stench entering my nostrils tried more than once to elicit some puke from myself, but was no match for my mind over the matter.
Again Sophie has taught me a valuable lesson:  Too Much Popcorn Makes The Baby Go Barf.  Maybe the bigger lesson for me was that while I want to let Sophie have a great time, but too much of a good thing can go south.  We have always applauded ourselves on giving Sophie experiences.  The experiences of life are enough to give her.  The plastic knick knacks and popcorn all go in the trash...or the toilet as the case may be, but the togetherness and experience are what transcends the moment.