Mistaken Identity

Last week Emily had a work happy hour an important meeting for work so she was not home for our dinner and bedtime routine.  Charlotte asked where Emily was once or twice and then went about her business.  I was making dinner when I heard Charlotte crying very loudly and sadly, "I WANT MY MOMMY!! I WANT MY MOMMY!"  I went into the living room uncertain how I could offer anything remotely comforting to her, as I would only be serving as a giant reminder that her mommy wasn't home.  And predicted Charlotte saw me and was even more insistent, demanding "I want my Mommy!"

But, there on the couch was Happy, babbling away holding some generic plastic female action figure type doll.  And that would be the mommy Charlotte wanted.  Well over 100 toys between the living room and the den, and she is crying frantically over some piece of crap doll she never showed specific interest in before.  But sure, now that Happy has it, Charlotte has deemed the doll as "my mommy," all in the name of a burgeoning sibling rivalry.  Now that is the kind of crisis I can ignore manage.

Overheard, Exhibit N

Charlotte's vision of what high school is like is a bit off.  This morning as drove past the high school by her daycare, Charlotte predicted this is in 11 years:

When I turn into a big kid I'm going to take a school bus to high school with the big kids.  Mommy and Daddy and Charlotte are going to ride the bus to school and Happy is going to stay home with Pancho.