Mickey Mouse in New York Weenie

"What should we do today?"

"Another Mickey Mouse thing...and this time from New York Weenie." In this short, Mickey chases a runaway hot dog throughout Central Park.

I did a search and handed him my iPhone. He picked a snapshot of Mickey looking extremely enraged and not like himself. There are many such stills in this short since Mickey's frustration level is at an all time high. The hot dog is quite the foe.

"Let's pick something else. This is ugly."

Surprisingly, he agreed without comment. "This one then," he said picking a snapshot with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy in it.

"I can't do three drawings."

"It's just one."

"Yes, but there are three of them. I don't have time today."

Frustrated, he went back to scrolling. After a lot of prodding, he picked this shot of Mickey peering through the bushes of Central Park. I started with the thick tip of the Sharpie today but couldn't control the ink spread. I had to start over on a new sack with the thin tip. I worked quickly and took shortcuts on the scenery to finish in time. Since it wasn't his first choice, nor his second, he didn't have any comments on this one.

We rushed out the door to walk to school as we do every morning. A few steps from school I got a strong feeling that I had forgotten to include the snack sack in his backpack. We stopped to double check. Sure enough, it wasn't there. We were running late already so there was no chance to go back together.

I asked him to just go ahead and I ran back home. I hadn't done any real exercise in months. My heart was racing but I was determined to get it to him in time. I made it home quickly and found it right on the kitchen table.

I ran back toward the school, faster this time. But as soon as I was in the sight of other parents, I started walking. I felt embarrassed to be running for some reason so I power walked the rest of the way. The school bell rang just as I stepped on school grounds. His class was already inside and settling down when I made it to the door.

Victor was waiting near his desk, ignoring the chaos around him, standing up looking out towards the door anxiously. He greeted me outside and I handed it to him. "Is this the same one?" he asked to no one in particular. "Yup, it's the same one," he answered to himself unable to hide his smile. I watched him head back into the classroom with a skip in his step and I breathed a sigh of relief as I headed back home. It meant a lot to me for him to have his sack today and clearly it meant a lot to him too.