Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Me and My Shadow

"What's that, Wallery?"
"That's a shadow."
"Shadow?" ...
"Yes. A shadow. It's made when the sun is high up in the sky and shining in behind us."
"What's that?" ...
"That's another shadow. That one's of my hand. And look! There's a shadow of your head."
"Shadow?" ...
"Yes. A shadow."
"Wallery? What's that?"
"A shadow." ...


"Wallery? Where's cow's shadow?" ...
"Cow's shadow is hiding in your shadow."
"Where's cow's shadow?" 
"Cow doesn't have a shadow right now. His shadow is inside of your shadow."...



Exhalation of a huge WHEW! I never imagined shadow-talk could be so lengthy and complicated.
But it can be.
Both girls have an innocent fascination with shadows. Pretty cool, eh? We looked for them all day long. Shadows of trees and shrubs. Shadows of parked vehicles, stop-signs.  Sweet Pea liked 'em too. Frankly, I appreciated the fact that she had absolutely no need to ask repetitive questions about them, but rather accepted shadows for what they are: awesome, magical, dark impressions to gawk over. Actually, Sweet Pea doesn't give a shit about shadows. Well, not in the way The Cousin does.
Her curiosity is sparked by more tangible, concrete things like

dental floss...
knitted caps...
and curtains...
Shadows come and go but curtains remain. At least until Mighty Isis pulls them down.

Things weren't so happy dappy on the lappy lappy this past week. Things change.
Last week, The Cousin issued a full-on invitation for Sweet Pea to sit on her lap. Sweet Pea, if you recall, obliged and even permitted her to feed her a bottle.  But you see, it was all on The Cousin's terms. This week, Sweet Pea took it upon herself to not only sit on the lap, but she decided cow was a toy to be shared equally.

Nothing like a good kick to end this joyous moment. Future soccer player, perhaps?
They're both strong-willed.  The Cousin's will is tinged in jealousy. There I said it.
I'm thinking she needs to let that shit go and concentrate on toilet training. Seriously.
That's the #1 goal. Well, number one goal of her parentals.  They have good reason.
They have another lil munchkin arriving in October and MY GOD! how many diapers can
one human change in a 24-hour period?! So they are trying all kinds of things, especially bribery, to get The Cousin to use her Elmo "big girl" toilet.
I just came across this and I think it has the potential to be their next purchase:


Welcome to 2013. This is an iPotty.  You can purchase it on Amazon.com for 39.99 plus shipping.
This handy dandy toi toi went on the market in March, and there are even potty training apps out there that'll reward toddlers for accomplishing "the deed." The company is also examining whether the potty's attachment can be adapted for other types of tablets, beyond the iPad

Can you say ridiculous?  Then again, The Cousin might bite.  Right now, they're giving her a sticker each time she does "her business" in the bowl. I noticed 3 stickers on the seat of the god damn contraption; 3 sticky reminders of delicious victory!  And yet, she'd much prefer a soggy, smelly diaper.

"Let's go to the lie berry, Wallery!"
"Good idea!"
"I have good ideas."
"Yes, you do. And where do your ideas live?"
"In my brain."
"That's right."...



By the time we reached the "building of higher learning,"and this particular section, they were both out. THANK GOD!


So I parked the rig and sat my ass down amongst the rows of fiction.
And much like Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, I had my own precious
55 Minutes of Solitude.  That makes for one happy nanny.

~tpg

1 comment:

  1. Dean Happy Nanny,
    Your photo says it all....55 minutes of pure bliss while Sweet Pea and The Cousin nap at the library. And that I-potty? Somebody's gonna make a fortune with that!
    Nice to have shadows for entertainment...but dental floss? Who'd have ever thought it. Sharing the cow? Absolutely not on the horizon for a while yet. Oh, well.
    Hope that big smile at the end was for other events of the day, too.
    Till next week then. Will sharing happen? Only the shadow knows!!

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