Her Wish is My Command

Everyone deserves a chance to realize their fantasy. So when I had an opportunity last week to make that happen for my 2 1/2 year old grand daughter I was right there ready to fulfill her special wish.

The Papaya loves the Olivia the Pig books which are her favorite bedtime stories these days. Her favorite Christmas gift this year was the plush Olivia she received in her stocking. When I was babysitting recently, reading her one of the books, she pointed to the picture of the monster who was scaring Ian and said, "I want dis monster. I want to have dis." I guess she assumed that if you could get Olivia, you might also be able to get the other characters in the book.



"Hmmm..." I said. "I think that just might be possible."

And the next time I came over, I brought all the necessary supplies to make the monster in the book. First I sketched out the basics. Then she helped me color in the black areas with her magic marker. Next we cut out the eye holes and armholes. Then she tried it on.

She was so excited to see herself in the mirror, transformed into the character in the book. I asked her if she wanted to scare somebody. She said, "But I don't have an Ian here."

I suggested that we might scare Boppy instead. She said, "But not too scary, OK? Only a little bit scary."

So we did. As you can see he was only a little bit scared. Then she peeked around the doorway to see who else she could frighten. When she was done being scary, but only a little bit scary, she sat in my lap and we read the book paying special attention to the monster page. Grandparenting doesn't get much better than this.