Mr. Fingy

For my seven readers of this blog, my apologies for the dearth of postings since New Year’s; the entire household got sick just before Christmas with yours truly getting it last and worse. I only stopped coughing two days ago. Blech. To complicate matters, Jack seems to have picked up some new viral infection that makes his nose run. Poor guy, he can’t yet properly blow his nose. When we entreat him to do so, he ends up blowing out his mouth. Also, being just three, he’s still too young to get the benefit of powerful over-the-counter drugs like Benedryl. On the other hand, we’ve discovered the joys of Vicks Vap-O-Rub. It seems to be helping. Last night, my attractive wife put it on Jack’s feet and then put his socks on. This seems like quackery but she says it works.

Many children craft an imaginary friend at some point. Jack’s new friend is “Mr. Fingy” who is not entirely imaginary because he manifests corporeal form; namely, his right index finger. Mr. Fingy is the primary operator of Jack’s numerous toy vehicles (trucks, diggers, cars, etc.) Jack will place Mr. Fingy into whatever vehicle is near and exclaim, “Mr. Fingy’s leaving!” and then asks, “Are you sad?” Mr. Fingy then goes on whatever excursion Jack imagines only to return a few seconds later. “Mr. Fingy’s back!” he’ll announce.

Sometimes Mr. Fingy will misbehave, or at least that what Jack tells us. A few nights ago in the bath, he said, “Mr. Fingy is bad!” I looked at him, “Really?” “Yeah, he needs a time out!” Jack says and places his finger on the side of the bathtub for a few seconds. “Is Mr. Fingy behaving better?” I ask. “Yeah!” Jack says and resumes playing.