Snapshot

30 May 2008

To really appreciate the moment, let me explain the proceeding pandemonium:
It was nothing particularly unusual; Lilly threw My First Potty Board Book at Ava because Lilly is two and likes throwing things and that book was particularly handy and also because Ava wouldn’t share the Playskool chicken. So Ava threw the chicken (because four-year-olds like to throw too) at which point Lilly pinched her.

I have found it best to let these tiffs blow over, but Lilly pinches hard and Ava’s screams (of pain unfeigned) were my cue to run interference. I tried a few distractions (“Ava, come show me your dollhouse!”). These were met with shrieks of protest. And my most diplomatic reasoning (“I can see that you’re upset, sweetheart; Can you use words instead of screaming?”) met with similar objection.

Not one to be left out of the fun, Lilly caught the spirit of the thing and began to launch Noah’s Ark&Friends at the closet target- me. Besides strong pinching fingers she has a strong throwing arm and surprisingly good aim.

“Okay, good throwing Lilly; but please don't throw at people”

“NO!” was punctuated with a flying plastic cheetah.


And this is how it started. I can’t now recall just how the hysteria subsided, but somewhere between the hippo sur l'aile and air-born Noah himself, Ava announced she was going to play dress-up and the chaos was suddenly over.

I was still recovering from the flying zoo as Ava helped Lilly into Tinkerbell’s fairy dress, and Lilly helped Ava find her Snow White red hair bow. I was asked to fasten all their Velcro and was given the feather boa as thanks. And also the butterfly wings and the princess hat that matched.

Then we went sidewalk chalking.

I wish I were a neighbor who might have peeked over the backyard fence and seen the three of us scribbling away: Lilly looked the very picture of a fairy with her runaway blond hair of tight, tiny curls and her face crinkled into her gleeful (impish) grin; Ava, herself a blonde Snow White, chattered about her favorite princesses as she minced around in her Plastic Glass Sippers With The Little Pink Bows, practicing her A-V-A in pink and purple chalk. If I had been watching from across the way, I would have taken a picture.

But I wasn’t. Instead, I sat in the middle of it all and drew big flowers in orange and blue.