I’m feeling quite nostalgic today, so I’m glad this topic came up. Back in the day, McDonald’s had a promotion for The Muppet Babies. I was the right age in 1988 to watch The Muppet Babies faithfully.

And, as far as promotional campaigns go in the thread of capitalism, getting a Happy Meal and then a cool Muppet Babies plush was literally made for me. Here’s a photo of the plush:

Generally speaking, I’ve always related to Miss Piggy. She was such a bad bitch, without me bestowing that vibe to her all those years ago. She was unrepentant in who she was and what she stood for. She was successful and passionately in love with Kermit even though she was sometimes too much. I loved that she never let the world dictate or tone down her outspokeness, fabulous style, or sass over the years. She was definitely an inspiration for young me, who was always told it’s better to be seen than be heard.

But I’ll smack someone real quick if I’m feeling like they wronged me. Ha!

I remember how I used to take the plush with me everywhere I went, how she would comfort me when I was upset or scared, and how she was my constant companion as soon as I got her. We watched a lot of Muppet Babies together in those days.

She was small enough to carry around without it being an issue like some childhood plushes. I could stick in her my backpack, stow her away in my desk, or lug her around the playground.

My favorite story to share about her is that I was visiting my cousins in Union City, and we had to hit the road. In our youthfully logical approach to life, we thought that if we threw Miss Piggy in a muddy pit in Grandpa’s backyard, then we would need to stay in the Bay Area a little longer and get her cleaned up before we went back to Modesto.

So that’s what we did.

And no, it didn’t work, because my parents grabbed a shopping bag to haul the sopping wet plush and packed crying me and the rest of my siblings into our Ford Econoline van.

As it sometimes happen, I think I eventually moved onto a different emotional support plush. I did end up buying a copy of the plush some years later, and she’s in storage somewhere. But the memories never faded.

It’s amazing how a simple plush toy can hold so much sentimental value and evoke such strong emotions.