Microwave Mishap

Friday morning I woke Robby up early. Although typically quite an ordeal, waking him early was surprisingly easy, and all I had to do was remind him that we needed to go film his commercial. Hearing those words caused him to hop out of bed and get dressed in record time.

Unfortunately Robby's boots were still soaking wet, the collateral damage of his birthday water gun fight from the previous night. In my zeal to get onto the road and lacking any other alternatives, I popped them into the microwave.  Alternating boots every 30 seconds, they were steaming (but nearly dry) within 5 minutes.  With his boots drying, Robby ran to the car in his socks, and we were on the road and headed towards the rink, only 15 minutes past my planned departure time.

Thankfully traffic, although congested, was not terrible. The fact that I could utilize the HOV lanes certainly aided our trip, cutting at least 40 minutes off the trip. We arrived at the rink an hour early. Eager to decompress, grab a cup of coffee and some breakfast, I pulled into a Denny's parking lot.

I handed Robby his boots and asked him to slip them on. By the time I walked to open his car door, I could tell that we had an issue. He couldn't get his boots onto his feet. Apparently popping them into the microwave not only dried the leather, but significantly shrunk it as well!

After 5 minutes of pushing and contorting, we finally managed to squeeze the right boot onto his foot. I was anticipating similar struggles trying to don the left boot. No matter what we tried, I just couldn't get it onto his foot.

We stood in the Denny's parking lot, struggling with the boot for the next 30 minutes. I'm sure we were quite the sight as I lifted Robby up 3 feet, holding onto only the sides of his boot. No matter what we tried,  nothing was working.

I dug through the back of our car, hoping to find a shoe horn but only managing to locate a hockey stick. I jammed the hockey stick into the boot, hoping to stretch it enough to allow his foot to enter. That desperate idea didn't work.

With only 5 minutes to spare and with both of us close to tears, we finally managed to work his little foot into the even smaller boot. I was worked into a full sweat, my dress wrinkled from the aerobic foot donning aerobics I had just endured. Robby was upset that his favorite boots weren't fitting, and angry that I shrunk them in the microwave. The euphoria from the stress-free drive had become a distant memory as we were both frazzled and high strung entering the rink.

After a few minutes of wearing and walking in his beloved boots, Robby proclaimed that they were no longer tight. He gave me a hug and apologized for being mad. I gave him a kiss and apologized for shrinking them in the microwave. With the boot catastrophe dealt with, Robby was able to become excited about meeting the hockey player and filming the commercial.

I must say that Mike Green, the Washington Capitals player whom we met, could not have been nicer. He took time to talk with Robby and to answer his questions. He posed for pictures, signed Robby's jersey and helmet, and seemed genuinely interested when Robby spoke. I overheard Robby proudly confide that he now has to wear a "private protector" when he plays hockey. I wanted to shrink into a hole at this "too much information" disclosure, but Mike just chuckled and told him that was a good thing because "you definitely want to keep that protected."

Robby did a great job with the commercial shoot. He listened to the director and followed the instructions perfectly. It took us almost 90 minutes to get there and 45 minutes to put on his boots, but the filming only took 40 minutes once we got started. 

We are going to be shooting the second portion of the commercial next week, at which time Robby will actually be on the ice. After meeting his new hockey idol, it is safe to say that Robby is beyond excited. This time, I'll try to save us from sweat and tears by keeping his boots out of the microwave.