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Aug. 10th, 2007 03:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckA couple of weeks ago, Delia had a friend over to spend the night. The two girls ran around like crazy, played dress-up, had me spray them with the hose in the front yard and played on Delia's swing set in the back yard. They ran into occasional trouble because Delia had very specific ideas about what they ought to be doing, and the other little girl didn't always agree. Delia was very put out about the differences and even more put out to discover that her parents weren't inclined to force the other girl to comply with Delia's whims.
Scott acted as supervisor for the playing on the swing set, and the three of them invented a game-- Rocket Girls and Monster Daddy. The two girls sat on one of those two seater, t-shaped swings. Scott stood nearby and waved his arms occasionally and growled while the girls shrieked and swung just outside his reach. Scott labeled it as the easiest game he'd seen in a while because he didn't have to move a single step.
A week or so later, I tried playing the same game with Delia. It didn't last very long. After about three swings, Delia insisted on stopping. When I asked why, she told me, "You have to be my mama and take care of me."
Delia likes having us tell her stories. Sometimes, she wants the story of her day (including the bits that we weren't there for. We have to make guesses). Once in a while, she wants the story of her daddy's day or stories about her first bath or the day she was born or how she learned to eat or... Well, the list goes on.
A while ago, she asked how she got her favorite stuffed animal, Squishy Pooh Bear. She asked me, and then she asked Scott. When he told her, she asked a question that she hadn't asked me. She asked who named Squishy Pooh Bear, and Scott told her that Mama had.
According to Scott, Delia's eyes got wide at that, and she asked, "How did she know?"
(The name was actually my way of distinguishing the stuffed animal from the three inch tall, hard plastic Pooh Bear that Delia insisted on sleeping with every night for a while (there were three other figures, Rabbit, Tigger and another Pooh who I jokingly dubbed 'Foo Bear.' That name stuck, too). Scott was appalled by the name because he felt that 'squishy pooh' conjured unpleasant images, but Delia was already thoroughly attached to the name. Delia actually wasn't very interested in Squishy Pooh Bear when we first got it (I'm not sure if Squishy Pooh is male or female. Delia changes her mind and will sometimes call the bear 'he' while insisting that it's female and 'she' while insisting that it's male), but somehow, Squish (as Scott calls it now that he's given up on changing the name) has become the one stuffed animal that Delia can't be without.)
For a little while recently, Delia had a small tent in her room. We'd purchased it originally for the trip we took to Florida to visit my grandfather right before Delia's first birthday. It was marketed as something to keep the sun off of small children, but we hardly ever used it for that. It's been down in the basement mostly. Periodically, Delia has rediscovered it and used it for various games.
This time, however, she decided that she wanted to camp out in her room. She's really too tall to sleep comfortably in the tent because it's only about three feet (thirty-six inches) across while she's closer to forty inches. Still she slept in it every night for more than a week. She even slept in it with the flap zipped shut (we'd sneak in and open it after she was asleep because Scott was concerned that, if there were an emergency, we'd have trouble getting her out if the flap were zipped). She slept less well in the tent than she normally does on her bed or on her loveseat. I think the hard floor was simply less welcoming.
The night of the sleepover I mentioned earlier, the two girls started out both sleeping in the tent. They fit even less well than Delia alone did. An hour or two after they'd fallen asleep, Delia came out in great distress-- Her friend had moved to the bed while Delia was sleeping. Delia wanted us to make her move back to the tent and was quite put out when we not only refused but suggested that Delia might be better off on her loveseat.
A few days later, we decreed that the tent was going back to the basement and that Delia would go back to sleeping on her bed (or on her loveseat). Delia objected and wheedled but not quite as strongly as I'd expected. I think she liked the idea of sleeping in the tent better than the actual experience.
Scott acted as supervisor for the playing on the swing set, and the three of them invented a game-- Rocket Girls and Monster Daddy. The two girls sat on one of those two seater, t-shaped swings. Scott stood nearby and waved his arms occasionally and growled while the girls shrieked and swung just outside his reach. Scott labeled it as the easiest game he'd seen in a while because he didn't have to move a single step.
A week or so later, I tried playing the same game with Delia. It didn't last very long. After about three swings, Delia insisted on stopping. When I asked why, she told me, "You have to be my mama and take care of me."
Delia likes having us tell her stories. Sometimes, she wants the story of her day (including the bits that we weren't there for. We have to make guesses). Once in a while, she wants the story of her daddy's day or stories about her first bath or the day she was born or how she learned to eat or... Well, the list goes on.
A while ago, she asked how she got her favorite stuffed animal, Squishy Pooh Bear. She asked me, and then she asked Scott. When he told her, she asked a question that she hadn't asked me. She asked who named Squishy Pooh Bear, and Scott told her that Mama had.
According to Scott, Delia's eyes got wide at that, and she asked, "How did she know?"
(The name was actually my way of distinguishing the stuffed animal from the three inch tall, hard plastic Pooh Bear that Delia insisted on sleeping with every night for a while (there were three other figures, Rabbit, Tigger and another Pooh who I jokingly dubbed 'Foo Bear.' That name stuck, too). Scott was appalled by the name because he felt that 'squishy pooh' conjured unpleasant images, but Delia was already thoroughly attached to the name. Delia actually wasn't very interested in Squishy Pooh Bear when we first got it (I'm not sure if Squishy Pooh is male or female. Delia changes her mind and will sometimes call the bear 'he' while insisting that it's female and 'she' while insisting that it's male), but somehow, Squish (as Scott calls it now that he's given up on changing the name) has become the one stuffed animal that Delia can't be without.)
For a little while recently, Delia had a small tent in her room. We'd purchased it originally for the trip we took to Florida to visit my grandfather right before Delia's first birthday. It was marketed as something to keep the sun off of small children, but we hardly ever used it for that. It's been down in the basement mostly. Periodically, Delia has rediscovered it and used it for various games.
This time, however, she decided that she wanted to camp out in her room. She's really too tall to sleep comfortably in the tent because it's only about three feet (thirty-six inches) across while she's closer to forty inches. Still she slept in it every night for more than a week. She even slept in it with the flap zipped shut (we'd sneak in and open it after she was asleep because Scott was concerned that, if there were an emergency, we'd have trouble getting her out if the flap were zipped). She slept less well in the tent than she normally does on her bed or on her loveseat. I think the hard floor was simply less welcoming.
The night of the sleepover I mentioned earlier, the two girls started out both sleeping in the tent. They fit even less well than Delia alone did. An hour or two after they'd fallen asleep, Delia came out in great distress-- Her friend had moved to the bed while Delia was sleeping. Delia wanted us to make her move back to the tent and was quite put out when we not only refused but suggested that Delia might be better off on her loveseat.
A few days later, we decreed that the tent was going back to the basement and that Delia would go back to sleeping on her bed (or on her loveseat). Delia objected and wheedled but not quite as strongly as I'd expected. I think she liked the idea of sleeping in the tent better than the actual experience.
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no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 07:23 pm (UTC)That cracked me up. Too cute.
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Date: 2007-08-10 10:15 pm (UTC)(I'd love to convince you that it would be okay to leave Delia with Grandmama if that were possible, but I understand feeling a need to stay a little too.)
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Date: 2007-08-10 10:19 pm (UTC)