The Tide obsession is getting a little scary. I’m not sure if it’s the red bottle or the blue swoosh or what, but he’s crazy for it.

Exhibit A: Today, he threw a minor fit in the kitchen, grabbing on to my legs and wailing, “Up! Tide! Up! Tide!” I waited until he did his little hissing version of “please” before I took him down to the washing machine to look at it. On the way, he laughed and squealed and kicked his legs in anticipation.

Exhibit B: Yesterday, during an afternoon tour of The Children’s Museum, Shef shopped for plastic fruits, vegetables, and bread in the Our World Market exhibit. Suddenly, he pulled his cart up to the cleaning supplies section and drew a loud, excited breath in – yes, they had empty Tide bottles ready to be shopped. The eggplant, onions, and baguette he’d chosen were promptly removed from the cart and replaced by Tide. And then he abandoned the cart and his shopping completely, and sat on the floor, hugging the Tide to his chest instead.

Exhibit C: Last Friday, Sheila and I stopped into Lunds to get ourselves a little treat from the bakery, and on the way to the checkout, we passed a wall of Tide. At his insistence, I pulled the stroller up parallel to it, and Shef caressed several bottles and impressed Sheila by lifting a few into his lap for closer inspection.

I should probably call P&G and offer Shef’s services in marketing.