Make 'em talk

For a few months (or more), Annabelle loves to animate her toys. It all started with her Sarah Lynn and Margaret bendable Little People that Grandmama and Granddaddy gave her for her 2nd birthday, and now, she has also moved on to making those itty bitty tiny hard animals talk.

It is her favorite thing to do, and she especially loves the company. She is always telling me to "Make em talk Mommy! Make em talk!"

And, frankly, I do get a little tired of "making em talk." I'd prefer to listen to her "make em talk" as she's got quite an imagination, and they are quite polite when they do interact with each other. That makes my heart smile!

Well, yesterday, after eating our weekly lunch at Captain D's with Grandmama and Granddaddy, I suggested that we all go to the Dollar Tree to look around. I was in search for some of those yellow cleaning gloves. I've been telling Annabelle for awhile now that we needed to get her own pair so she could help me clean. She's been sharing with me! And, to say the least, that is always very interesting.

So, off we go, to the Dollar Tree. And, I didn't make her sit in the buggy because she enjoys the Dollar Tree as much as I do.

It didn't take long before she found a basket of her own to dump her very own purchases, or so she thought! It was a battle I didn't want to fight. The battle where I tell her not to touch or remove anything from the shelves. And, she was having fun and learning at the same time. I thought, we can place everything back when we leave.

Keep in mind, I probably sound a lot more patient than I really was, but my feelings inside were such that I wanted to pull my hair out because she had gathered 20-30 items from all over the store, and the one basket she originally had carried then turned into two baskets. One for her to carry, and then she requested that I carry the other basket she found to stuff junk into.

Finally, it was nearing time to go, so I told her that she could pick out one thing to buy. But, only one thing.

She's always been such a little negotiator. Her response to me was, "Two things." I told her, "Nope, one thing." "No, two things," she said until she finally realized she wasn't going to win this battle.

Then, she'd find two things she liked, and she would say, "I take dis one, and Grandmama can take dis one to her house." Pretty smart for a two year old!

So, she continued her hunt, and I told her it was time to put everything back and that she needed to stay with Grandmama and make a decision while Mommy placed everything (okay, almost everything) back in its proper location.

As I turned the corner after replacing the last item, she came running down the aisle to me with a small package of tiny bath toys in hand. She said, "Mommy! Mommy! We can make em talk!"

My thoughts out loud to Grandmama went something like this, "Lovely! Yes, we can make em talk alright. Just something else to make talk!" I tried to persuade her to buy the cute magnets she had originally found or even the small plastic dinosaurs because I thought those tiny bath toys weren't all that cute, and they were a waste of money.

Boy was I wrong! Now, I am sorry that I even tried to persuade her otherwise. Maybe one day I'll learn to stay out of her business. But, she has had the most fun with those six, tiny, colorful bath toys. And, they really are quite cute!

As we were checking out at that counter at the Dollar Tree, I even gave her a lesson on saving. I told her, "Now here is your dollar. You can either take the money home and put it in your piggy bank, or you can trade it for those toys." Obviously, she opted for the toys. But, she soon forgot that she had spent her dollar and told me later after we picked up a penny on the ground to put in her piggy bank that she would put that penny in her piggy bank "with my paper money." Paper money! Those were her words!

I couldn't help but smile last night after she went to bed just remembering the excitement in her sweet little voice as she ran to me with those bath toys in hand to tell me, "Mommy! We can make em talk!"

So, what is a story without a picture?!?!

Dear Annabelle,

I hope you will always find the simple joys in the little things! You really help me to open my eyes and see the fun in the small things.

You have such an imagination (even though it drives me a little crazy on some days). If you don't have actual toys to "make em talk," you use grapes and even your fingers at the dinner table to act as a Mommy, Daddy, baby, puppy dog, you name it (and I'm not even joking)! We don't typically allow toys at the dinner table, but with an imagination like yours, you don't even need toys!

Keep those imagination genes from your Daddy flowing sweet girl!

I love you!

Mommy