Life. Family. Home. Simplified.

Barney is 25 Years Old

Wow! Can you believe it? Barney is all grown up. 25 years old.

I had a love/hate relationship with that purple dinosaur.

Oh – the kids loved him, which meant a half hour time for me to get things done.

But – the kids loved him – which meant having those annoying little jingles stuck in my head all day long.

Yes – there would even be times when I was alone in the minivan, but the Barney CD was still on from a previous trip. I had become so used to the songs that I wouldn’t even notice until I got to my destination.

Talk about a V8 moment. {Slaps hand on head} Man, I could have been listening to Top 40!

Well, let’s just say that those days are long gone. And I look back with nostalgia. What I would give to be sitting in the minivan, held captive by my four little darlings and one purple dinosaur.

Happy Birthday Barney! - Dare I say, I miss you?

To celebrate the occasion Barney is on a mission to amass 25 Million virtual hugs and he needs your help.

Go to www.sharebarneyhugs.com and send your own Barney hug to someone special via email, tweet, or Facebook message.

There are lots of sentiments to choose from, including hugs tailored to special occasions – but I think there is one missing.

I truly don’t know what you would call it – maybe a “Remember me?” or “Once upon a time …” or how about a “Wow – you grew up too!”

But it would need to be the kind of hug that I could send to my “too old for Barney” kids that would serve as a little reminder of the childhood that they are so eager to put behind them.