Mama Maria

There’s a new catch phrase in our house.

Mama-Maria.

It is usually used as an exclamation and at the top of the kids’ lungs.

We don’t know anyone named Maria. My kids have never called me momma. How did these two get put together to begin my kids’ go-to phrase? Funny you should ask.

About two months before the kids’ third birthday, we decided to go buy a Nintendo Wii. The excuse we told ourselves—and each other—was that the kids would love to have one. The truth is I wanted to use it for Zumba and daddy wanted to use it to play Mario. So, off to Best Buy we went.

We bought the Wii and the Zumba game. Came home and set everything up. We showed the kids how to use it. Troy took to Super Mario Brothers like he was born playing it. We are talking like a duck to water. At almost three years old. Go figure. Even Morgan got in on the action with a used copy of Dora and the Magical Kingdom.

Since then, we have branched out into Mario Kart and Mario Party 9. Their third birthday party was even Mario Brothers themed. Complete with hand-made decorations, a mushroom cakes, and little Mario figures on the cake.

So, back to the Mama-Maria.

At the end of the Super Mario Brothers, Mario jumps into the air (which, by the way, Morgan has perfected) and shouts “Mama Mia.”

My kids misunderstood this as being Mama Maria. We’ve tried correcting them, but they continue to shout Mama Maria—at home, in the grocery store, in the doctors’ office… you get the picture. Morgan does a little fist pump-jump like Mario when she shouts it.

The Wii purchase has introduced a whole new level of pretend in the kids. We play house with the Mario people (the figures that were on their cake), they pretend to be the princess and Mario– they even call each other Mario and Luigi sometimes. The best part is—WE have to call them Mario and Luigi or they won’t answer us.

The sad part of this whole story—and what prompted me to tell it—was the other day at work I actually said out loud, “Mama Maria” in frustration.

You can just call me Mario.