.....Transfixed, in a word.
Our little (almost 4 yr. old) toddler, Shayla, rummaged through the fridge this morning before mommy and daddy's brains and bodies had caught up with her's to find the One treat of her highest culinary desire: The White Chocolate Bar. Aahhh. :)
She knows where this 'gift of the gods' lives inside the fridge, and we give her some on occasion after she asks in her very polite little girl fashion. Up until now we have pretty much kept the 'special' things where they belong and have also removed others from their extremely obvious areas of temptation. The refrigerator has remained a special sanctum that she has, for the most part, approached with the greatest sense of respect for all things therein, mundane And special, but alas her sense of courage to challenge the domain of the powers that be has taken a jump of it's own. Tisk, tisk.
I arrive on the scene--come into the kitchen--and open the refrigerator door unsuspecting of any foul play and I am immediately clued in by the fact that 3 sticks of butter fall on the floor in front of me due to the door of the butter compartment being left in the 'open' position. "Ah, okay.", I think to myself. I immediately don my daddy detective hat and start to investigate. The 'trail' is still hot; I can feel it. I'm right on the money when the first place I look---the home of all the chocolate bars in the Casey-Culverhouse household--is strangely barren. Hmmm. I could have sworn that there was a newly purchased, recently open, barely delved into and carefully parceled out 'Lindt's Excellence' White Chocolate with Coconut Bar sitting right there.
"Shayla?", I call out in an inquisitive tone with that edge of hanky-panky to it.
"What??", she answers back from her room.
"Come here please."
(She walks in.)
"Where's the white chocolate bar?"
"It's under the pizza box.", she says.
"Under the pizza box??", I say.
"Yes.", she says in a "I guess I'm caught" kind of tone.
"That's pretty funny.", I think to myself. She actually thought that she could 'hide' it there without foul play being detected. :) How funny. (It's a good thing that it's still cute at this age.) I lift out the pizza box and find what's left: a naked-and-nibbled-around-the-edge-with-a-hole-in-the-middle white chocolate bar or rather, what's left of one.
"Okay... So where's the foil and paper exterior?"
"In my room on the floor.", she says matter of fact like.
"You have to ask before helping yourself to these kinds of special things. Are mommy and daddy going to have to padlock the fridge?"
"No."
"Okay. Then you are going to have to ask before you help yourself to things that You Know are not yours for the taking."
"Oookaaay Daddy.", she drawls.
I'm not sure if it was a drawl of truthful understanding or just playing the part. She's good on conceding when she needs to for the sake of pleasing the 'rents.
"If you're going to pull this off kid, you're going to need better concealment and subterfuge skills than what you're demonstrating here.", I'm thinking to myself with a smile. At the same time, I'm certainly Not Asking that they come any faster than they will on their own. They will; that I know! It's also very likely that I will not be humored in the slightest at that time depending on the type and level of the subterfuge.
Today, it was cute. I enjoyed the moment.At least it's not 'pancakes stuffed in the DVD player' or The Flatscreen as a Canvas or any number of truly horrific thoughts that are occasionally realities in the home's of toddlers across the world.
I was glad that today....it was cute.
