polka dot suitcase

Here’s a story I heard about Walt Disney. When Walt was presenting Carousel of Progress to investors, they were thrilled. Walt, not so much. He urged them to come back in a couple weeks to see it again. When they returned, the attraction was the same — except that Walt had added a funky animatronic dog.

That dog made the attraction go from great to memorable. Walt tried to up the ante in his park and movies, and urged his peeps to do the same. He wanted everyone to include a small, visual nugget that would tickle people and keep them looking for more. He likened it to dangling a carrot in front of a mule — but instead of a carrot, he called it a “wienie.”

Why a wienie? I’ve heard two versions of the story — first, Walt himself loved hot dogs (back in the days when calling something a “wienie” didn’t allude to any body parts). He’d cross a busy street if he spotted a hot dog vendor — they were his dangling carrot. I’ve also heard when Walt came home, he’d play with his dog, Lady, by holding out a hot dog and leading her around with it. Hence, his idea of weenies was born. (I think Walt spelled it “wienie,” but I prefer two e’s. I’m sure Walt would forgive me.)

I’m all about the weenies. Oh, that didn’t come out right. But, especially as a mom, I love doing little things that give the kids a little sparkle of surprise when they’re not expecting it. Like my hard-boiled eggs with faces. Or the apple carousel that was their all-time favorite treat when they were little (took forever to stick those Teddy Graham riders to their posts, but it was well worth the effort). Will they get into Harvard medical school because I did this when they were preschoolers? Well, hopefully! Kidding. But I’m hoping all those goofy things I did when they were little will a) give them a spark of creativity and b) help them see the weenies around them. Oh, that didn’t come out right, either. Why couldn’t Walt have liked hamburgers?