Elmo and Grover, muppets from Sesame Street, greet families in Wiesbaden, Germany, Sept. 25, 2009. Elmo, Grover and other muppets are part of The Sesame Street Experience for Military Families. U.S. Army photo by Karl Weisel.
By Elaine Wilson
Elaine.wilson@dma.mil
Oct. 14, 2009
For my daughter’s first birthday, I decided to create a cake resembling Elmo, her favorite “Sesame Street” character. I used about a gallon of red frosting and a pre-shaped pan, and about an hour later, I ended up with a big, red mess. But my daughter clapped and smeared cake frosting without a care in the world. Still today, the fuzzy red muppet holds a special place in our hearts.
So, you can imagine my excitement at the opportunity to meet the fuzzy red toddler today. I’m heading to Sesame Street to attend the taping of a new video production aimed at helping military children and their families. The story deals with the loss of a loved one, in this case, Elmo’s uncle.
I’m looking forward to the privilege of watching how the Sesame Workshop folks tackle such a tough, yet important, topic and teaches lessons of coping and strength.
On hand at the set will be several military experts who provided input for the production, the Sesame Workshop production team and, of course, a few favorite muppets, including Elmo and Rosita.
The production is the newest phase of Sesame Workshop’s “Talk, Listen, Connect” initiative, a multimedia project that guides families through multiple challenges, such as deployments, homecomings, and changes that occur when a parent comes home, according to the Sesame Workshop Web site.
I’ll provide more details tomorrow. In the meantime, it’s a privilege to get an inside at Sesame Street and I’m excited to share the experience with you. The topic will be an emotional one, but I’m very glad Sesame Workshop is tackling it. I can’t imagine a more fitting source to help children.
For more on Sesame Workshop, visit http://www.sesameworkshop.org/initiatives/emotion/tlc .