snapshot: spring 2005

The little girl from across the alley, who is perfectly fine, came over to play yesterday. She has two older siblings, a sister and a brother, and she is about 5 months younger than Maggie.

At first she came over and asked if Maggie could play in her yard, then went to ask her mom if it was okay. Meanwhile Frankie got excited about going, and started talking about what toys he was going to bring. I had to break it to Frank that Claire was only asking if Maggie could play in her yard. I said that he could stay with me and we would have some special time together. He was not happy about this, nor was he interested in what fun he could have with his mother. The girls ended up playing in our yard instead, and that seemed to take care of the problem. For a while.

Later I heard the girls have this exchange:

C: Who's lunchbox is that?
M: It's Frankie's.
C: (surprised) What? He has a Hello Kitty lunchbox? (giggling) Does he want to use that lunchbox?
M: (wide eyed but puzzled) Yes, that is Frank's lunchbox.

Now, you must understand that when I hauled the Hello Kitty lunchbox out of a toy bin to start packing preschool lunches in, I knew that some of Frank's uncles might not approve. But I gave my boy the choice between HK and the pink princess lunchbox, and he chose HK. And I secretly gloated about how sweet my son was, that he didn't think he needed spiderman or the incredibles to carry his lunch in. I knew that my bubble would be burst at some point, but I didn't think it would be so soon.

Or that it would be burst by the 5 year old girl from across the alley.

Frank didn't hear this exchange, because the girls were playing with "girl toys" while he played with animals on the porch. He'd offered to share the animals with Maggie and her friend, but they preferred to play with dolls. I saw him following the girls around later, holding a stuffed dinosaur like it was his baby.

After the neighbor girl left, I heard Frank talking to his sister.

"Maggie, I think Claire only wanted to play with you today."

Maggie, who takes no interest in hurting her brother, said nothing. Frank repeated his statement. Then Maggie said, without looking up,

"Come on Frank. Let's go play with the animals."