Sunday, July 26, 2009

I have to learn to think these things through before I open my mouth. . .

Ting Ting loves for me to tell her stories at night, after we've read some books and turned off the light (yes, I realize she's stalling).

A couple weeks ago, desperate to tell a shorter story than her oft-requested "princess stories" (which, of course, require me to remember every detail of the Disney movies), I offered to tell her about Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

I started telling the story, off the cuff. I had difficulty recalling details, and I couldn't for the life of me remember how it ended -- although I'm sure it was frightening. So I just made up a happy ending.

She loved it. Now she often asks for that story, and I just make up a different ending every time.

The other night I finished with the bears finding Goldilocks and waking her up.

"She sat up in bed, and said, 'oh my goodness! I'm glad you're home,'" I told Ting Ting. "Goldilocks apologized for eating their porridge and breaking Baby Bear's chair, and she said,
'how about I make you a nice big breakfast?'

"So they all went into the kitchen, and Papa Bear and Mama Bear helped Baby Bear fix his chair while Goldilocks made breakfast. Then Goldilocks brought in big platters of bacon and eggs and they all sat down and ate it together!" I finished, triumphantly.

Ting Ting didn't miss a beat.

"Where did Goldilocks sit?" she asked.

(I had been smart enough to realize they needed to fix Baby Bear's seat, but I hadn't realized that that meant they still had only three chairs. Darn that kid.)

"Oh," I said. "They had a little stool in the kitchen, so Goldilocks brought it into the table and sat on that."

"Noooo," said Ting Ting.

Uh oh, I thought.

"I think she should sit in Mama Bear's lap!" Ting Ting said.


Fine with me. I'm just too busy worrying about how we're going to pay for law school.

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