Pardon Me

I felt kind of bad for Rain today because most of her toys were packed up. So, when I had to pack or clean, she had to entertain herself with--yikes--her imagination. That lasted about 20 minutes, then she looked at me like, "So ... when are we going to get a Wii like Aunt Gina has?" o I tried out a time-tested parental phrase like, "What am I? Made of money?" and a fresh one, too: "Hey, it was either a Wii for you or a new stainless steel refrigerator with built-in ice maker for us. Would you like a cool glass of water?"


So, it was time to break out the books. Before Rain was mobile, she liked books. When she began to crawl and walk, all of a sudden books were for rocks. I'm holding on to the time where she will love them again. Anyway, so I grabbed 2 books, one for each of us. Rain opened her book on her lap.

I picked up the other book and read a sentence to Rain. She smiled, moved closer to me, and took the book from my hand. Still smiling, she closed the book, and put it next to her.

"You don't like that one, huh?" I said. "OK, let's try this one."

I took the book sitting on her lap and read a page aloud. Rain smiled, took the book from me, and closed it. After a meaningful look, she handed the same book back to me.

I opened it again and started to read. She reached for the book.

"What?" I said, "What's wrong?" Then I got it. "Oh ... you don't want me to read aloud." Rain smiled, and we each looked at our own books quietly. Pardon me, madame.