The Wildest Dreams of Sneaky and Shrieky

November 23rd, 2006

I returned Monday from a trip to Georgia, where my nieces were visiting their Grandmother and Grandad. Four-year-old Dani, aka “Shrieky,” was her usual high-energy self. She demanded I sing “This Land is Your Land,” or, as she calls it, “the California song,” at least eleven hundred times.

“Krissy, can you sing the California song?”
“Krissy, can you sing it again?”
“Krissy, can I sing with you this time?”

Sunday I watched her consume nothing but cookies and juice for six hours during a family get-together. That night instead of going to sleep, she spent a half hour running up and down my parents’ long hallway, shouting, “Look, I’m racing myself! I’m racing myself again!”

My favorite Dani moment, though, was when we were driving back to Marietta from the aforementioned get-together in Lawrenceville. I drove. My sister rode shotgun. My dad had no problem being relegated to the backseat with his beloved granddaughters. Only catch was, it was a small car (my dad’s PT Cruiser), so Grandad had to squish against Dani in her booster seat, which was strapped into the middle. As he wedged himself in and crowded Dani, Dani shrieked, “AH! You’re a BIG BOY!” This is funniest if you know my dad, who is truly a VERY BIG boy.

Erica, age 7, coveted my Nintendo DS. She tried a number of rhetorical strategies to convince me to give her mine or to buy her one. But even though Christmas is coming, she’s not getting one, because the child has shown extreme game-addictive tendencies. She plays nonstop and becomes combative when asked to detach herself from the gaming device in order to do things like eat or sleep. So I told her no DS this year, because she would just play all the time and flunk out of school. “That would never happen,” she said, “Mommy would NEVER let me bring it to school.”

At one point, I asked Erica what she wants to be when she grows up, and she said, “A zoo keeper or veterinarian. Or my wildet dream is to be a lion tamer in a circus.” Her wildest dream! Then she said, “What do you want to be when YOU grow up?”

“I’m grown up already,” I said.

This seemed to confuse her. “How old are you?”

“Thirty-one. I’m older than your mommy,” I explained.

“So?” she said, “What do you want to be?”

Little did she realize what a relevant question this was, being that I am ONE MONTH from graduation and still unsure of what to do next. Indeed, I thought, What DO I want to be?

“Well, I’m a teacher, but I guess I want to be just a poet.”

She said, “You mean you want to write poems and send them to editors and stuff?”

Did I mention she is only SEVEN?

“Yeah.”

The family get-together was wonderful. It’s satisfying to see my cousins striking out on their own. Matthew is a renaissance high schooler who wows his teachers and has a real shot at a baseball career (his current ambition). Sarah-Nicole, a recent college grad, has four job offers to teach math at area high schools. And Chelsea. Chelsea, the little tot in diapers, is in her freshman year of college. They are such NICE adults. They seem self-assured and content. They are the types of people who contribute to society and make the Edgar clan proud! My Nana enjoyed herself with so many family members around, too. The baby of the day was Austin, my second-cousin Beth’s blue-eyed charmer. A chub-ful of sweet.

The best parts of these trips for me are always the no-big-deal little moments that feel like the types of things we would do together if we all lived close. Pauline and I snuck out for a little girl-time and shopping. And Cheri and I decided spontaneously to see a movie on Saturday night.

Speaking of the movie, GO SEE IT. “Stranger than Fiction” is terrific. I don’t want to give anything away, because it is surprising and interesting and heart-warming. It’s not a chick flick, just a great movie. I recommend it to all.

So we are here at home hanging out today. Stevel has baked me brownies and is enjoying his Wii. Tomorrow we head up to the San Fran area. We have a date with his family at a Chinese restaurant on Friday. When your cat is like a big greasy turkey every day of the year, it’s not a sacrifice to forgo the bird on Thanksgiving.

And here are photos. Happy Thanksgiving!

2 Responses to “The Wildest Dreams of Sneaky and Shrieky”

  1. Abigail Says:

    I snuck over here from your photos section, I hope you don’t mind…

    Niels shows similar game addictive tendencies. So far he just plays games on the websites of his favorite shows but it’s already “just one more time!” when I want him to stop to eat or go potty. No handheld games for him for a while either!

    Of course, it’s not a surprise considering that I remember sitting down on more than one occasion to play the Sims and then looking up suddenly and noticing that the whole day had gone by!

  2. dad Says:

    “Sneaky” and “Shrieky”, boy are you going to pay for that when they grow older. But oh so true about them. Sorry you missed out on BabyLand and the Wildlife Preserve. Your sister found the greatest wildlife preserve. More Siberian Tigers than Cabbage Patch dolls at Babyland. A great place on a beautiful day.

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