Friday, January 8, 2010

A Parenting Question

Is the way your child cares for a baby doll any reflection on your job as a parent?


I ask this question because Katie Anne and her new baby doll - christened "Cheesy Puff" - go on some pretty wild adventures.  Cheesy Puff is often the victim of horrific injuries, involved in dangerous situations, or offered as a sacrificial lamb to some wild animals, and I'm wondering how a psychoanalyst would interpret these actions.  I promise I have never offered Katie Anne to a wild animal in exchange for my freedom.

Oh sure, there are plenty of precious mini-mommy moments when Katie Anne pushes Cheesy Puff in the stroller ...

 Or carries her around with a bottle, looking for a place to feed Cheesy Puff ...


But then, there are the heart-stopping adventures of Katie Anne and Cheesy Puff.  Lately, these have involved tromping through muddy swamps, slithering around jungles with snakes, or running through the forest while being chased by wild bears.  Usually, Katie Anne comes out unscathed, but Cheesy Puff is usually left to fend for herself - or directly offered to the animals as an exchange for Katie Anne's safe passage.  Talk about Sophie's Choice!

Like this time, when poor Cheesy Puff had been gobbled up by giant alligators in the swamp (also known as my new rain boots) ...


Or this time, when Katie Anne hid in the corner after tossing Cheesy Puff backwards to the wild bears who were chasing them both through the foyer ...



Katie Anne runs free and lives to tromp through the foyer forest another day!


Rest assured, Cheesy Puff also survived the imaginary encounters, but still I wonder about Katie Anne's lack of reluctance in literally tossing Cheesy to the wolves!  I asked her about it, and her answer was simple:
"Mommy, I'm real and Cheesy Puff is not.  So, I let the alligators eat her."

Well, I guess that makes sense.  Hopefully, she'd be a little more hesitant about tossing a real baby backwards into a pack of hungry, aggressive bears.  Still, I'm not letting her babysit for quite a while!  :)

5 comments:

Jason, Erin, Ella, and Colin said...

So funny! I was going to write a similar post because for some reason Ella things her baby dolls go on her toy kitchen stove (as in that is where they blong). She does this religiously, and it makes me wonder why she thinks that is normal. Hmmmm... Crazy kids!

The Brown Family said...

I too hope this is just the Imagination Station rolling in. I have never carried Addison around by her neck or put her in the dryer to "get clean quickest" but that is how the news twins get treated all the time. She has a little indoor cottage and the other night Stephen heard her tell her babies "Don't cry girls or I'll close the window". Hummmmm I have never made that threat or really any threat at this age. Oh well, maybe it's just how they see it! It couldn't be our faults..... We are model mothers :)

Pat said...

TOOOO funny ladies!!! Katie, KA has a WONDERFUL imagination!!! And rest assured that it is ALWAYS the MOTHERS fault!! No matter WHAT!! LOL!

The Dillards said...

I heavily applaud the amount of imagination your child has . Good job!

Tara said...

Hilarious! Oh, and I love the new pictures. Can you give me the name of the lady who does these?