All That to Say: "Hi, My Name is Gary."

Our girls, of late, are very much into playing games that require interactive and pretend conversation.  Most often this happens with dolls or their stuffed animals, and the game usually goes something like this:

"What's your name?"
"Shannay."
"No, what your doll's name?"
"Oh, ummmm, Ellie."

"What's your doll's name, Mama?"
"Latoya."
"Latoya?"
"Yes, Latoya."
"No, her name is Ellie."

Once names are established, then usually we go on to really important topics like what we drive, if we can chew gum yet or not, if we are married. . . you know really important topics that FOUR YEAR OLDS should be talking about!!!

Well a few days ago, Zack was over, and the girls wanted to play pretend, but they wanted to use cars.  (They love cars, and if they had a car that their dolls would fit in, then the world would be a perfect place.)  Zack is always a good sport about playing with them, so he readily accepted his role in the game of pretend.

Shannay had the new blue van (which in reality is a broken down Scooby Doo van that I got from a garage sale, but they love it!)  We told her its name was Mystery Machine, but I inadvertently kept calling it the party van (what is wrong with my mind?!).

Zack had a plastic infant's squeaker toy car that he called, "Gary."

I had a cool revved up black race car called, "Midnight."  (Trust me, these details are important.)

And Nikki had a green, John Deere Gator that we called, "Deere." 

So the conversation went like this:
Shannay to Zack:  "What's your name?"
Zack:  "Gary.  What's your name?"
Shannay to me:  "Mama, what's my name?"
Me:  "Party Van.  No, I mean Mystery Machine."
Zack:  "Nikki, what's your car's name?"
Nikki:  "Beer."

Laughter.

Zack:  "Nikki, it's Deere, not Beer."
Nikki:  "No, it's Beer.  I like Beer."  OY

Shannay (noticing Zack's car was not cool like everyone else's):  "Zack, what's wrong with you car?"

Poor Zack, first he has to be a boy fairy for Halloween, and now he's got the baby squeaker car.  He always gets the raw end of the deal.

Zack:  "Gary needs to go to the mechanic."
Shannay:  "What's a canic?"
Me:  "It's like a doctor for cars."
Shannay:  "He gonna get a shot?"
Me:  "No, cars don't get shots."
Shannay:  "Zack, why he gotta go the canic?"

Zack:  "He's got diabetes."

Total Silence.

Confused looks by all the toddlers in the room.

Eruptive laughter.

Mischievous smile by Zack. 

Game over.

 

All that to say, you've gotta admire a man who can play with toddlers and genuinely enjoy it.  You're gonna be a great dad someday, Zack Jones. :)