A Buzz & Woody Obsession

Do you have an itch to buy that new mountain bike or purse? Or do you often have that never ending worry about turning off the oven? Maybe you were just in the middle of a panic attack that you were late for a flight and broke a land speed record sprinting across the B concourse in the Denver International Airport.

We all have our little obsessions, worries and addictions in life.

I’ve had millions of my own. When you have kids and see a “mini-me” of yourself in the mirror, you begin to think, “How the hell did my parents deal with that?” Here’s a post about my 2 1/2 year old daughter’s emerging case of Buzz & Woody obsession. It’s supposedly not rare. Regardless, I’ve been on a mission to cure it.

Maybe my ideas about curing obsession can help you the next time you (or your significant other) get that urge you can’t seem to get rid of.

61. That’s the number of times I hear, “Buzz & Woody” in a single day. That’s 7 to 8 times an hour. It used to be cute when the Apple iPad commercial came on and she came running to see the “Buzz & Woody” part. I don’t mean to be a Buzz-kill, but after the 20th time it began to get a little less cute. Especially at 9:30pm when she busted out of her room after Mom and Dad swore she was asleep.

It probably doesn’t help she has a Buzz & Woody Play-Doh set, baseball glove, DVDs, coloring book, soccer ball and Leap Frog book. She’s a Disney/Pixar poster child. “Buzz & Woody Daddy!” It’s her answer to everything from “What do you want for breakfast” to “Who do you love?” I’m 99.9% convinced this obsession has rooted itself so deep inside her subconscious little mind that her first boyfriend will be a cowboy wearing a Stetson with a “Snake in his boot”. I better get my six shooter ready.

Everyone tells me kids naturally have cases of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). If she really is like “Dad”, she’s got a super duper case of OCD. I’m the one that was so obsessed with the New York Jets, I requested to be added to the season ticket wait list when I was 18. A little less than a decade later, I couldn’t so “No” when my number was called. I put a pair of mezzanine level season tickets at the Meadowlands on my credit card. I live in Kansas. I haven’t made a game yet. Amazon sells Obsession perfume in a 12 ounce bottle for $42.11. My tanker sized obsessions have cost me a little bit more.

I spent the last two weeks over analyzing all my current and past obsessions and jotting down tricks that worked for me. I began to develop an intervention strategy for Buzz & Woody. It was a priest at a Catholic church in Rock Springs, Wyoming that provided a great analogy to help.

He spoke about his typical winter drive home and how each oncoming car would kick up a small snowstorm, blinding the road ahead. When that happened, he would panic and begin to obsess. “Is the car behind me too close? Is a car in front of me?” For a second, he lost sight of the way ahead and focused on all the worry inside. Obsessions are no different. They can become excessive, causing you to become oblivious to the world around you.

How do you stop an obsession snowstorm so you can enjoy the ride? Here’s my withdrawal plan for my daughter.

Your obsession fills a hierarchical need
Abraham Maslow can teach us a lot about obsession. Obsession often fills a gap we perceive in our life. It helps us cope so we focus less on what we are missing. When that snowstorm swirls around you, logic goes out the window and you obsess. Maslow’s “Safety” need is in jeopardy.

Intervention Step #1:
I think my daughter actually believes Buzz & Woody are no different than breathing, food or water. My plan is to target her “Physiological” needs and give her as much frozen yogurt, dinosaur chicken nuggets and guacamole as humanly possible. These are her favorites and will hopefully take her focus off of breathing “Buzz & Woody” 61 times a day. My backup plan is to target her “Esteem” need and praise her every time she doesn’t say “Buzz & Woody”.

You can’t have ‘two’ many obsessions
You really only have enough brain capacity to obsess about a small number of things. Trust me, I’ve spent days, months and years obsessing about things. Sometimes the best mechanism when you are stuck driving in a snowstorm is to turn up the radio or concentrate on something else. You’ve probably learned this trick if your wife or husband loves to shop. Get him or her focused on a second item to buy and the obsession over purchase #1 fades.

Intervention Step #2:
My daughter needs something to cancel out Buzz & Woody. And I don’t think my six shooter is going to do the trick. Those two are infectious. Given they are everywhere, I need to find her a brand new obsession. My plan is to bring home 20 Zhu Zhu pets and let them run crazy through the house. Hopefully, they cancel out Buzz & Woody fever.

You usually pull an obsession trigger
We all have a “tell” in life. Poker players learn this early on. If you have a recurring case of obsession, knowing what trigger starts it can help prevent it from coming back. Like the snowstorm story, when the snow starts swirling, it’s a sign you should stay at home. So should your significant other if they tell you, “I just want to window shop”.

Intervention Step #3:
My daughter has had a number of obsessions so far and they all start the same way. TV. At 20 months, it was WordWorld. 24 months was Little Nemo. And now, Buzz & Woody. Don’t think we’re “parenting through TV” people. One time is all it takes with our daughter. My plan is to limit TV to one night a week and begin shortening theatre viewings of Toy Story 2 and 3.

I’ll let you know in a few weeks if my daughter goes into Buzz & Woody remission. Knowing my luck, I’ll accidentally start a Zhu Zhu pet obsession that will eventually lead to a 20 litter gerbil farm when she’s twelve. At any rate, I hope this post at least helps you the next time you are window shopping for that mountain bike, purse or perfume.