The Hit List - Got my mind on my monkey

Why I love the internet: it allows me to relive the things I loved the most about being a kid. I can research all those things from the sixties and seventies (Big Eye art, Marathon candy bars, Garanimals, etc) and also see if my memory serves me right (yes, Jello did make Spoon Candy, a delicious but short lived dessert that I feel needs to make a comeback).

A few weeks ago, I found myself reminiscing about my favorite childhood toy with my husband: a goofy bendable monkey.

I loved that thing. I would spend hours making tissue paper dresses for it which would make mom nuts because I was “wasting” the tissues on bullshit. (Tissue paper fashion was important to me back then so I didn’t agree with her assessment.)

After a lot of hard play, the monkey got ruined and tossed in the garbage. Flash forward a few months later and I was at a church picnic. Every child got a small bag with goodies. Inside my bag: a brand new bendable monkey. Kismet! We were meant to be!

Until I got a Barbie the next year and suddenly Monkey and I were done (and yes, I named that thing the very unoriginal name of Monkey – which is now the name of one of my cats).

I had mentioned this beloved plaything a few times over the years and, in a wave of nostalgia and guilt for abandoning that monkey over a Barbie, I got a hankering to see if I could find it online. I typed in “vintage bendable monkey” and there it was. Exactly as I remembered it.

A hideous little creature with a giant head and hands. But oh my god…it HAD to be mine again. Three times the charm. We WERE meant to be together. It WAS kismet.

This little guy sits right on my desk where I can look at him every day, a quirky reminder to be playful and to appreciate those little things that bring joy as only a child could understand.

Thank you, internet.