Oprah starts 'em young

Apparently Oprah really does have some kind of magical pull. When D- and I left to go shovel some snow the other day, M- was inconsolable for poor J-, screaming non-stop and practically clawing at the front door.

Eventually, J- gave up and turned on Oprah (good old DVR). M- immediately stopped crying and paid rapt attention. As soon as Oprah was off-camera, she started up again. This cycle went on for the entire show, without a clear explanation. Even M-'s little baby doll (seen above watching by herself after M- wandered away), perched on her lap, could not reassure her that Oprah would be back each time soon after she went away. (Given that she's been on every cover of O magazine for 7 years now, I don't think Oprah would take well to being off camera for more than 5 seconds at a time.)

Anyway, once Oprah was over, J- was on her own to make dinner with bleeding ears, as they both eagerly awaited our return. Once M- saw us on the porch, she lit right up like 10 Oprahs just said "Peekaboo! You've won a year's supply of tummy-ticklins!"

So I guess that means for all intents and purposes, I'm as good as or better than Oprah.

Power and influence now, please!