The Ernie and Bert Book is Real and Not Something I Made Up

Whenever I’m feeling particularly overwhelmed by the muchness of all the stuff in my life — trying to find a storage spot for the specialty repair glue we needed for a paddleboard, figuring out where we’re going to keep the subcutaneous fluids setup that we have to give the geriatric cat once a week, stuffing the lighter-weight jackets in with the puffy coats because it’s March and WHO KNOWS what the temperature will be on any given day, etc., etc….

That’s when I say to Dan (or anyone listening) that “my life is a Bert and Ernie book!”

Specifically, The Ernie & Bert Book.

Which is a book I read over and over and over again in my youth, and which, because I was a child who grew up in pre-internet times, I couldn’t verify if it had actually existed in real life or just in my brain.

Even though I remembered it vividly, every time I tried to explain the plot (er, “plot”) of this great piece of literature, no one ever had any idea what I was referencing.

“See, it’s this book about how Ernie has to put the flowers in the fishbowl and the fish in the colander or something like that because he broke the vase and is moving one thing to the next to find homes for them.”

Makes total sense, right??

Now, of course, we can read the whole thing via YouTube:

So maybe I was wrong about the specifics of what item went into which container in my recollections. But dammit, the book exists!

And I bet you’ll agree with me that it’s brilliant. (I particularly love the kangaroos. “Wyatt Burp” was one of my favorite things to say randomly as a kid!)

The story never comes out and directly tries to teach any kids any life lessons — it’s just pure silliness from our friend Ernie — but as an adult, I’m taking more from it.

Because we can try to make do, to keep it together and figure it out without any other help, to half-ass DIY it or rush into a Band-Aid crisis fix, and hope our wobbly solution holds. Even though, metaphorically, our fish are in the cowboy hat and they’re not going to survive for long in that situation.

But if we ask someone for help — if we say, “hey, I broke my piggy bank, do you have a spare jar?” — chances are that your community will come through for you. I’m sure Mr. Hooper would have offered up a replacement!

Or sometimes it can be that we just need to complain and vent to someone out loud. I truly believe that when I speak my worries or anger to a friend, it sends a message to the universe that whatever’s hanging over my head needs a resolution. And the universe pretty much always listens and pushes something into place when I do this.

My whole life, I’ve tried to do everything myself. I plow through frustration, even though now I know it’s one of my Human Design flashing alert signs that something’s out of alignment. I push forward with only my wits and a thorough internet search.

And I’m not saying that we can’t come up with inventive, low-cost, independent solutions that work magnificently. But now I’ve learned to acknowledge when I’m working from a place of scattered, time-constrained, stop-gap panic. (Which, actually, feels like more of a Bert reaction to me. And in my Muppet Big Three, I am definitely a Bert.)

I now try to sit with my responses and ideas for a while, or shoot off a quick email or text to the people I trust, when I’m in a place of pressure. Maybe if Ernie had talked to Bert, the ice cream wouldn’t have ended up in the eggbox. But then we wouldn’t have this wonderful book.

I finally bought myself a physical copy of The Ernie & Bert Book to reference any time I need to, or when want a pick-me-up.

And also for proof that this book was and is real, and I didn’t invent it.