If you’ve seen Shrek 2, the best Shrek of them all, if you ask me, you may remember the giant gingerbread man named “Mongo.” Shrek and pals enlist The Muffin Man to make him in order to storm the castle to, once again, rescue Princess Fiona. Basically Mongo is a big, stupid version of Gingie, the original Gingerbread Man, and he lasts all of several minutes before he drowns.
Not one of the characters you’d most remember, and yet, Logan has been absolutely obsessed with Mongo for the past few weeks. He calls him “Humongo” though, which is what I thought the cookie’s name was until I started to write this post and looked it up. Logan spends hours drawing Humongo pictures and has thus far created two Logan-sized Humongos, comprised of multiple sheets of notebook paper glued together.
Last night, he decided to pretend to be Humongo, which was pretty humorous considering the slow, deliberate, dumb way in which Mongo talks. “Hiiiiiiiiiiiii Mooooooooooooommmmmmmmm,” Logan droned, sounding absolutely hysterical in his high-pitched, helium-infused voice.
This morning, he wistfully informed me (as Humongo) that he wished he had a shirt with two buttons down the front, so he could look like Humongo too. By the time he had his coat, hat and mittens on to get on the bus though, he was smiling again. “Now I’m Logan,” he said, “because I can’t be Humongo at school!”
The Humongo obsession is not one that can be indulged very well, however, a fact that I both welcome and find frustrating. Logan is dying for some Mongo paraphernalia, but I don’t think that’s even possible. (And don’t suggest creating something because I have absolutely no skills with crafty activities.) I guess not too many people are enamored with a giant cookie that nabbed only several minutes of screen time.
It’s amazing what kids can cling to. Now Cody’s Spiderman obsession — I get that. Spiderman is a superhero. He’s also an ordinary, everyday person, even a nerd, which is the part I think Cody really relates to.
But a slow, stupid, perishable gingerbread cookie? I just don’t see the appeal. Is it the sweetness? The gigantic-ness? The dumb laugh? I doubt Logan himself would be able to pinpoint the reason behind his new-found love.
Maybe some day he’ll be able to explain his overwhelming affection for Mongo, but for now, I guess I’m going to have to figure out a way to get him something gingerbread man-related for Christmas. I seriously doubt that this will include actually making gingerbread cookies, as I can see him becoming terribly upset by us eating his “friend.”
Do your kids have any interesting or non-mainstream interests/obsessions?
My boys are teens, and when I think about it they really weren’t obsessed with characters when they were kids. Now, my dog Kodi is another story! He’s obsessed with a stuffed leopard that’s torn up and disgusting, but Kodi carries him around like a trophy and sleeps with him at night.
My son was obsessed with movies and music, beginning in elementary school. Starting in kindergarten, he’d watch his favorites movies non-stop till the video tape no longer existed. I remember he did this with Willow and Big–two of his all-time childhood favorites. And he’d listen to tapes until he knew every single word on every single soundtrack. Billie Joel particularly appealed to him. This obsession didn’t end till he started his own family and could no longer afford the time. But his movie collection is now Blockbuster sized. Seriously. He’s even embarrassed to reveal how much money he’s spent on it.
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Love Shrek, super movies!