That’s my little turkey during her second Thanksgiving meal. Her first Turkey Day celebration is a blur. She was pull-your-hair-out colicky and too young for solids. However, I’m positive she got at least a hint of spice while she was nursing, given how much pumpkin pie I scarfed down that day… and the next day… and the next day.
I love pumpkin pie.
But not as much as I love my little turkey.
Only, she’s not so little any more.
Now, she’s a big turkey, and she’s got the mouth to prove it.
When she was a little, she’d wobble around and try to gobble whatever her chubby fingers could cram into her mouth. These days, it’s the things that come out of her mouth that illustrate what a big turkey she really is. For example:
A few weeks ago my daughter starting begging me to buy her Rosetta Stone’s online language-learning software. The commercial runs incessantly on practically every network, so I chalked-up her request to effective advertising beyond the target market and left it at that. Unfortunately, her pleading continued ad nauseam. I couldn’t figure out why my third grader, who complains daily about how much she hates attending mandatory Spanish class at school, would want expensive digital foreign language lessons.
“Why do you want Rosetta Stone?” I finally asked.
Her reply: “I want to learn how to speak French… to my Spanish teacher.”
Late last month, my daughter and I were driving to the grocery store when I noticed a huge banner on a popular fast food restaurant announcing the arrival of its Peppermint Stick Swirl Shake. Less than a block later, I noticed another fast food giant’s sign advertising its Egg Nog Shake and Holiday Mint McFlurry. Finally, as we pulled into the supermarket’s parking lot, I realized that two adjacent eateries had just erected window clings advertising their Candy Cane Latte and Gingerbread Cookie Sundae, respectively.
Disgusted by the premature holiday hysteria, I irritatingly spat out: “Peppermint shakes, candy cane lattes and gingerbread cookie sundaes? In OCTOBER? What happened to pumpkin shakes and cinnamon swirl lattes? It’s not even Halloween yet!”
Without missing a beat, my 8-year-old answered my rhetorical rant with a very matter-of-fact: “Mommy, pumpkin shakes are so August.”
I’m so thankful for every minute I get to spend with that little turkey. She’s the light of my life and the source of my smiles… and frowns.
If you have a few little turkeys of your own at home, don’t let the chaos of the holiday season blind you from the joy they bring to your family.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Related Articles: