My ten year old, mentioned in the preceeding post, has been keeping me busy. In addition to the usual duties of motherhood, I have been helping him make a birthday present for his best friend.

To explain the present, I have to back up and say that the two boys have recently formed a rock band, with my son on drums, his friend on guitar and another friend also on guitar. As 5th graders, their practice sessions can get silly and at some point they invented an imaginary band mascot, a supposed relative of Star Wars’ Chewbacca the wookie called Saccachewbaccchew, whose appearance in the original movie was left on the cutting room floor. Mention this white wookie to the bunch and hilarity ensues.

So, as a surprise for his friend, my son asked me to help him make a stuffed animal version of Saccachewbaccachew. He drew a picture and traced the face with a sharpie onto a scrap of old sheet. We cut the body shape of out white faux fur, sewed the face on, sewed the body together, stuffed it, and sewed it closed. Of couse, I helped with a lot of the sewing. My son wrote out a tag for him. We both felt a bit mischevious and fully satisfied.

On Saturday, my son gave his friend the present, and yesterday, Saccachewbaccachew made his first appearance at band practice, sitting stiffly in a chair. This morning, I received a text from his friend’s mother, saying, “taking good care of the band mascot!” and including this photo. That little guy looks happy wherever he is. Good choice for a mascot.