Sunday, December 07, 2014

Costumes 2

Avery had an afternoon sleep and now he can't drop off. I have read three stories. Martin played harmonica. I sang him a song. Una reminded me that the note said we had to have a family dance after dinner. We got Avery up and danced to All I Want for Christmas is You and a remix of Last Christmas. Then I took Avery back to bed.

I did a self-compassion body scan with him, where we thanked all the parts of his body for what they've done today (thank you mouth for talking and blowing and singing, thank you fingers for picking up and poking) and he gave himself a hug goodnight. (Why don't we teach our children to self-soothe?) I sang five more songs, including Time After Time and Famous Blue Raincoat.

'In true life, monsters can talk,' Avery says, because he doesn't want me to leave.

I say, 'There are no monsters in true life. They are just pretend.'

'Last day,' he says, 'Last day I saw a rabbit on the road in true life.'

'Yes,' I say. 'Rabbits are real.'

'And kangaroos. Kangaroos are in true life.'

'Yes, kangaroos and rabbits are real, but monsters are just in stories.'

'Mm,' Avery nods. 'Monsters are costumes. If there was a monster on the road and a car came and drove over him, it would squash him flat.'

Saturday, December 06, 2014

Costume

1.
'I'm not Avery. I'm Thomas,' Avery pipes up from the backseat of the car.
'You're Thomas?' I say.
'This is a costume,' he says, patting his torso.
'You're Thomas, inside an Avery costume?'
'Yep.'
After a while he says, 'Actually, I'm Avery.'

2.
Chay next door has come to visit. Avery is sitting up in his high chair eating yoghurt and blueberries. He says, 'these are sticker eyes.'
Chay watches his eyes very closely. 'Are you sure?' she says. 'It looks like they're moving.'
Avery blinks slowly and deliberately. 'They're sticker eyes,' he says.