So Mom got ahold of Panda yesterday…

Any time Panda disappears I always worry. Either it means he is in the wash,or he’s getting repaired so his stuffing won’t come out, or else he could be “lost in the house” like he was that one time when I was little. This time she took him into the sewing room.If you’ve seen pictures of our sewing room, or even better, if you’ve had the (dubious) privilege of actually going in there yourself, you will understand my apprehensions. Stuff gets lost in there all the time. As a matter of fact I’ve seen her lose stuff without ever leaving her chair. (That, I might add, is an occurrence not strictly limited to the sewing room!)Hmm…what’s going on here?I watched in some dismay as Panda obediently let Mom try…(wait, was I seeing right?)…clothes on him! “Just don’t make any sudden moves, Bro,” I advised. “You don’t want to get stuck by a pin!”“Too late,” was Panda’s reply. “Dude, if I’m not out in an hour, call in the National Guard!” “Okay,” Mom announced after what seemed an interminable amount of time. “All done!”“Mom, seriously??” I exclaimed. Panda laughed a little nervously. “Never mind the National Guard,” he said. “It looks like we’ve got it under control.” “Okay guys, let me explain,” Mom said. “Do you remember all the times I’ve had to sew Panda up because you guys play so rough? I don’t want his stuffing to come out and then have you swallow any of it.” We listened, our eyes wide. “Well, I decided that if Panda had on clothes, it might help keep his stuffing in, and avoid any more new holes. And fatigues just seemed like the logical outfit for someone who always looks like he just came from a war zone.” We had to admit she had a point there. “Okay,” we said. “We’ll give it a try!”“Besides,” Mom continued, “I got you guys a new safari tunnel to play in. Panda’s outfit matches it perfectly!”“Cool!” We were impressed. “Let’s try it out!”“Hey look!” Panda exclaimed. “It’s just my size!”“It’s a little small for me,” I remarked. “That cat on the box must be really tiny!” Panda looked at the fine print. “Well,” he observed, “it does say ‘actual item appearance may vary’.”“I guess,” I replied. “But that’s okay. Hey, I wonder if this one will fly like our old white laundry basket tunnel?”“What do you mean, ‘fly’?” Mom looked surprised. “Uh, nothing,” Panda said quickly. “You know Foster and his overactive imagination!” Mom agreed. “Okay guys,” she said as she turned to go. “I’m going to be working on my blog. Have fun with your safari tunnel!” “Yes, ma’am!” we replied in unison. 

Whew, that was a close one!