Today, as I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with my evening since Jerry would be out with the guys he works with, my mother reminded me that tonight was the dress rehearsal for Winnie the Pooh. I like taking Helen to dress rehearsals because her commentary doesn’t bother anyone (really), and I’m not pissing off paying patrons if she decides to be Two right in the middle of everything. Mom volunteered to watch Alice so I could take Helen. YES!
So, abandoning all hope of housecleaning (which is kind of futile during Oak Tree Seed Dumping Season anyway — I can vacuum my heart out and the dogs will still track in all kinds of crap on their foot-long flowing magnetic hair), I deposited a full Alice at my parents’ house and took Helen to the play.
She was SO excited. She couldn’t even eat dinner, she was so spazzed about getting to see Pooh. I think she’s going to wake up starving in the morning, poor thing. I think she had 1-1/2 tortellinis and a Ritz cracker. I couldn’t get her to eat any more.
She started getting things together to give to Pooh. I don’t know if this was to be an offering or what, but she left it in the middle of the floor in the foyer. I did manage to give her a bath, which is a great way to pass the time for Helen — baths easily take 30 minutes or more, and it kept her from continuously asking me when we were going to see Pooh.
When I was gathering up Alice and the diaper bag and Helen and HER diaper bag to take one child to Mom and then go to the theatre, Helen said, “No, Mommy. Not Alice. Just Mommy and Helen go see Pooh.” And there she was, with her heart on her sleeve. Such a sweetie.
I explained that we had to drop Alice off at Grama’s, but it would just be Mommy and Helen going to the play. She sat in my lap the whole time. She let me take a picture of her with Pooh. It was a lovely evening for both of us. And she’ll get to go back with Grama and see the play again on Sunday.
What a sweet little girl.
