Stories

Before she goes down for a nap, or the night, we tell her a story. Mommy's stories always start out with "once upon a time." They rarely deal with dragons. Daddy's stories always start out with "one day." Often, the stories deal with something about the recent day, although at other times they are about Tahlia, or someone, attempting to find someone or something. They always start by asking Tahlia what she would like in her story.

The stories usually must include Mya, her infant brother Bennet, her mom and dad Rene, Damon, as well as Sam, his infant brother Charlie, his mom and dad, Lucy and Serge. Sometimes Esme, her mom and dad, Peggy and Avrom, and their cat, Bella must be included. The question is simple: "Tahlia, who should be in your story?" The answer not always: "Mya, Rene, Bennet, Damon, Mya, Sam, Lucy, Bennet, Charlie, Serge, Sam, Mommy, Daddy, Asher, Mya, a bunny." Recently, stories with a bear and a bunny have been popular, but not as popular as Jenny.

Jenny is a white mouse who lives beneath Tahlia's dresser. Jenny comes out often to play with Tahlia, look for various items, or find food or water. Sometimes, Jenny wakes Tahlia from her nap to do various antics that Tahlia knows she shouldn't do because she should be sleeping. Recently, Donna, the brown mouse who lives beneath Asher's dresser, found Jenny riding on Daddy's red slippers as Tahlia chased him around the room. Soon, Donna was on the slippers too and Mommy and Asher were laughing.

Mommy is a little concerned that Tahlia will become schizophrenic and have a personality of Jenny the mouse. She wonders why the mouse could not have been called Fuzzy, or Snowball, or Little Mouse.

Sometimes, the stories become convoluted and are quickly resolved by Tahlia needing to go inside from where ever she is to take a nap. Other times, they are systematic and easy to follow. Either way, we're lucky that she's only two.

Recently, Tahlia has decided to start interrupting the story teller in order to state what she desires to happen. Of course, the story teller must incorporate what Tahlia has dictated, or risk Tahlia restating what she desires to happen.

Tahlia, when asked, will also tell stories on her own. You have to repeat each part back to her, or she won't continue. Sometimes, she forgets what her story is about, or she loses track of what is supposed to happen and, sadly, much like in real life, some people who were hiding, are never found.