Pirates Aaaarghhh… with boogie shoes

A few days after Halloween I got the rare treat of grocery shopping with only one child. Em fell asleep at grand mommy’s house; At-man and I were on our own. At the end on an uneventful trip we took our place on line. The grocery line is really the only place I get to check in with all the celebrity shenanigans so now you know where my true focus was…”it must be so hard for poor Angelina these days.” Just as I was convinced that Nick and Jessica didn’t stand a chance (and apparently was right on that one) one of our friendly cashiers approached me. She explained that she was told to either give away the left over holiday merchandise or toss it. Would At-man like to pick a free toy out of the bin?

At-man stood on tippy-toes and pulled out the only toy left. I knew that any toy that survived both the 50% and then 75% mark down wouldn’t be pretty, but holy smokes! This puts all the drug store, five dollar, singing frog families to shame. This toy is truly horrifying. It is a talking skeleton dressed in pirate finery. “Can hold his head in his hands!” the box boasts. At-man kept making faces at it and putting it back in the bin, but that cashier was determined that he was going home with us.

Upon further investigation we discovered that not only was “Skully” a sea dog fashionista, he was also a major fan of K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Not only did he “do a little dance”, not only did he “make a little love”, he got down tonight baby! If all that wasn’t enough, his jaw bone moved around to give the impression he was singing as his left eyeball actually popped in and out of his head.

Now I ask you, could there be any better choice of song for a child’s Halloween toy than “Get down tonight”? Brilliant! Of course my kids want to do a little dance and make a little love. How did they know?

Now, while At-man tried to ditch the toy, Em adores it. As soon as Skully starts singing Em begins bouncing up and down on his chubby little baby legs. He walks back into the kitchen again and again to press the button. Man does that kid like to get down.

I would like to take this opportunity to point out that this house has no shortage of cuddly, historically loved childhood characters that sing, bounce, shout and go potty. Although At-man loved these in his babyhood, Em doesn’t give any of them a second glance. Apparently Skully has that certain something, after all, he’ got boogie fever. How could you not love that?

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, Skully is taking up residence in the attic. We are all going through a little disco withdrawal but don’t worry. I’m bringing in back up. While his dancing leaves something to be desired, at least his lyrics are slightly more age appropriate for a 1 year old.

New buddy