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Original poster

WWYD? The Saga of the Family Tuna

361 replies

PomBearAtTheGatesOfDawn · 27/09/2011 19:43

Bit longwinded but anyone who bears with me can have Wine and Thanks
DD has a toy caterpillar named Sydney Tuna, she liberated him from a car boot sale when she was just gone 2 and has adored and worshipped him ever since.
Last Christmas Santa brought his mummy, Mrs. Mabel Tuna, to live with us. She had missed Sydney since he went to seek his fortune, so had written to Santa to ask him to find Sydney, and Santa gave her a lift to our house on his sleigh. Cue rejoicing and carolling and so on....
DD now informs me that this Christmas, Mrs T and Sydney are writing jointly to Santa to find Mr. Tuna, who rejoices in the name Miguel apparently, and is in the army, fighting for the peaceloving resistance caterpillars who want to stop the slaughter between the marmite and the maple syrup factions I kid you not AND I kept a straight face wile DD told me all this
So... and if you're still with me, a thousand thanks... I can lay my hands on a caterpillar identical to Mrs. Tuna, but how can I make him look like he's been liberated from the army/prisoner of war camp/somewhere else suitable to have kept him away for a long time? I thought about him having been kidnapped by Pirates to explain where he's been all these years, and that was when DD came out with the stuff about the army... any suggestions? DD is 9 and I think this could be the last year for Santa for her, we've had some pointed questions that I have so far lied my way out of managed by the skin of my teeth, so I want to do Mr. Tuna's homecoming right...

OP posts:
Original poster
PomBearAtTheGatesOfDawn · 27/09/2011 22:33

I am leaning towards an eye patch for his face, if I can find felt to make one from, or an actual eyepatch that I can stitch into place - if I knit it DD will suspect, she's as sharp as a knife. I could camo the rest of it though, and if I used make up or face paint it could wash off - that might be good, she can "bathe" him and clean it off herself perhaps. AFAIK he's even machine washable although machine washing beloved toys tends to be a tad traumatic sigghhhh

OP posts:
edam · 27/09/2011 22:32

Ask someone who has boys and dogs... IME the combination is fatal for action men. I wasn't allowed action men as a child (glorified war, apparently) but managed to inherit various casualties that had barely survived the attentions of my friends' springer spaniel. Grin

meditrina · 27/09/2011 22:32

And if there aren't any bits you can amputate, how about stitches to make a dashing scar?

meditrina · 27/09/2011 22:30

Camo cream on his face (try eyeshadow)?

Original poster
PomBearAtTheGatesOfDawn · 27/09/2011 22:25

OOOOo a Medal! now that is a brilliant idea, he is obviously going to be a Hero of ze Resistance...
Not sure about the smell - he'll be stashed somewhere round the house until Christmas - maybe a dirty mark or two to make him look like a recent escapee - I think Santa was so moved by Sydney and Mabel's letter that he went to look for Mr. Tuna and found him tunnelling out of his prison, and by swooping low in the sleigh, Mr. T was able to grab hold and hang on all the way to our house from Darkest Peru/Timbuktu/Ougadougou/Somewhere equally obscure that DD won't have heard of hopefully so I could get away with a bit of grue and muck and smell maybe...
I shall ask around about the Action Man stuff - I have 4 DSs and the only Action Man thing we've ever had is the shark! Someone at school might have some battered ones they don't want though, and they'll look "well used" which is all to the good.

OP posts:
radiohelen · 27/09/2011 22:20

Defo yes to a uniform.. some kind of camoflage.

Maybe some of that gold scrambled egg that officers and dictators are so fond of?

edam · 27/09/2011 22:18

A medal. Clearly he is hero material. He should have a decoration of some sort. The order of the Fritillary, perhaps?

meditrina · 27/09/2011 20:29

If he's back from the wars, he needs to smell!

If he's been a PoW, then he'll have lost weight (can you take some stuffing out).

Know anyone who has DSes growing out of Action Man? He needs an AK47!

And a "uniform" - can you find some camouflage fabric to make some sort of sheath for him?

And Miguel needs to nod to his ethnic origin - Spanish hat and bullet belt?

Original poster
PomBearAtTheGatesOfDawn · 27/09/2011 20:07

I never thought of a tash! I was thinking bandana and eye-patch (and maybe a wooden leg or two if I could work out a way to do it - he has 20) hence the pirate thing. DH suggested an amputation or two for war wounds but I'm not sure I can bring myself to do it...
hmmm tash and monocle maybe...

OP posts:
HaveALittleFaithBaby · 27/09/2011 20:00

Give him a tache using a sharpie?!

RatherBe · 27/09/2011 20:00

Might he have grown a beard and a moustache (some caterpillars are pretty hairy...)

And can I just say that I am in awe of your DDs imagination and now want to know all about what happens when the Tunas are reunited?