Before she fell asleep the other night, Mallory said, “I’m afraid I’m going to dream about that scary monster in that movie I saw with Daddy.”
I said, “Dreams and monsters aren’t real, they can’t hurt you.”
“You mean monsters aren’t really alive?”
“No, they’re not.”
Pause, then a knowing laugh. “You mean except in Florida, of course.”
Yesterday Phoebe bumped her head and went to Mallory for a hug. Mallory soothed her with these words: “It’s okay, honey. But you need to stop crying or you’ll get sick. It’s ridick-a-lus, this crying!”
For at least a year, Mallory has been telling us that she’s going to marry Chris’s friend Alex when she grows up. (What’s the attraction? Alex used to build muppets on Sesame Street and does a great Elmo impression – enough said.) She’s told us, for example, that after she and Alex get married they’re going to have a baby, and Alex will stay at home and take care of the baby while she goes to work. (Since Alex will be about 60 by the time any of this could take place, this seems like a pretty good plan.) The other day she said, “Well, when I get married to Alex, I’m still going to live in our house.”
“Here with me and Daddy?” I asked.
“No, you and Daddy will live far far away, like in Texas,” she said.
“Oh. So you’re going to live here with Alex?”
“Oh no, just me and the baby will live here. Alex will have his own house somewhere else.”
It’s a good thing she has about twenty years (or more, I hope!) to fine-tune her marital plans.
Phoebe has been learning to make faces – you know, a happy face, a sad face, a mad face, a surprised face. Her sad face is priceless; she squinches up her eyes and turns down her mouth and does this “hoom…hoom…” pretend cry. She does this not only on demand but also when any other child around her is crying – Mallory, a baby in the grocery store, the little boy at Barnes and Noble who didn’t want to leave the train table. And if she’s crying for real and passes by a mirror, she’ll stop and look at herself and then switch to pretend crying. Which is definitely good for a laugh.
I said, “Dreams and monsters aren’t real, they can’t hurt you.”
“You mean monsters aren’t really alive?”
“No, they’re not.”
Pause, then a knowing laugh. “You mean except in Florida, of course.”
Yesterday Phoebe bumped her head and went to Mallory for a hug. Mallory soothed her with these words: “It’s okay, honey. But you need to stop crying or you’ll get sick. It’s ridick-a-lus, this crying!”
For at least a year, Mallory has been telling us that she’s going to marry Chris’s friend Alex when she grows up. (What’s the attraction? Alex used to build muppets on Sesame Street and does a great Elmo impression – enough said.) She’s told us, for example, that after she and Alex get married they’re going to have a baby, and Alex will stay at home and take care of the baby while she goes to work. (Since Alex will be about 60 by the time any of this could take place, this seems like a pretty good plan.) The other day she said, “Well, when I get married to Alex, I’m still going to live in our house.”
“Here with me and Daddy?” I asked.
“No, you and Daddy will live far far away, like in Texas,” she said.
“Oh. So you’re going to live here with Alex?”
“Oh no, just me and the baby will live here. Alex will have his own house somewhere else.”
It’s a good thing she has about twenty years (or more, I hope!) to fine-tune her marital plans.
Phoebe has been learning to make faces – you know, a happy face, a sad face, a mad face, a surprised face. Her sad face is priceless; she squinches up her eyes and turns down her mouth and does this “hoom…hoom…” pretend cry. She does this not only on demand but also when any other child around her is crying – Mallory, a baby in the grocery store, the little boy at Barnes and Noble who didn’t want to leave the train table. And if she’s crying for real and passes by a mirror, she’ll stop and look at herself and then switch to pretend crying. Which is definitely good for a laugh.
Comments
I can just see Phoebe making her faces. I'll bet that she is hilarious!
Mom
I changed my post for today...
H