Sweet little heathen

OK, ya'll. I admit it. Gillian thinks she owns the playground. And the things she thinks are hers she is very hard pressed to want to share. In fact, she doesn't like to share a few things: slides, swings, playgrounds, shoes, and balls. These things she covets. Like a rat. A very sweet, cuddly, chatty, kissy rat. It is a little embarrassing to have the kid that waves her arms and shakes her pointer finger at other kids and sternly says, "noooooooooooooooo no no!" when she sees a kid trying to climb her stairs to get on her slide. Other days she gestures to her swings (no matter how many there are), and does the same thing. Even if there are kids in it. Especially then, really.

Luckily, there are kind moms in this neighborhood who aren't too proud to admit that their kid has a touch of the plague of selfishness as well. Such kind souls empathetically say, "God, I DON'T miss that phase. It will be over soon!" But, the weird thing? Secretly I kind of think it is adorable watching her wag her finger and chastise kids who are sometimes old enough to be her parents. Of course, you bite your lip off not letting them see that you think it is adorable, but still. You have to be proud that your kid has that kind of nerve.

I don't think Gillian is inherently selfish. She is quite sweet and shares lots of things. The other weekend, she even let Adele (a little girl her age we see all the time at the playground) play with Baby. And not just the cloth baby, the French Baby that Nonni bought her that smells like vanilla. She let Adele play with her for an hour, every now and then peeking over to make sure Adele was treating Baby right. But the thing about Gillian is that she has to WANT you to have something she likes, and she wants to be the one to give it to you. When other kids think they have the right (hrrrmpphh! the nerve. in a public park, of all places!) to just get on any old slide or swing they want without asking permission, THAT is when she puts her freakishly tiny foot down.

But, she does it with style. As when she gets caught doing anything she knows we don't exactly approve of, she says, "HI!" with as much charm as she can muster at just the right moment. Like this:



An aside: She was all about "NO" for a few weeks a couple of months ago. But then she discovered "Hesh" for YES and "Aye" for Yeah. She says something ("Bass?") , I repeat it ("Do you want to run your bath?"), she says "Hesh" or "Aye" ((emphatic nodding) "HESH!"). I think she gets so excited that we understand what she's saying that she almost combusts. I'm not sure where she gets the Scottish thing from, but it sure is sweet. Here is an example of a game she likes to play where I ask her a million questions and she gets to answer "NO!" over and over (and of her showing off her singing skills when Nonni and Grandaddy were in town a month ago!).